Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 4 • Number 16 • 10th September 2004
EXPERTS HIGHLIGHT IMPACTS OF FOOD PRODUCTION ON WATER USE
EXPERTS HIGHLIGHT IMPACTS OF FOOD PRODUCTION ON WATER USE
The annual World Water Week gathered experts from business, government, water management, science, inter-governmental organisations, non-governmental organisations and United Nations agencies in Stockholm from 15 to 21 August to discuss a wide range of critical water and development issues. Organised by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), this year’s conference primarily focused on food production, including issues related to agricultural subsidies and trade in water rights.
Water and agriculture — the "big issue"
According to Professor Jan Lundqvist of the Stockholm International Water Institute, "food preferences are changing, with significant increases in demand for meat and dairy products" which require far more water than grain production. These "production patterns are simply unsustainable, involve large scale groundwater overexploitation and widespread river depletion, and pose a major threat to biodiversity and aquatic ecosystems," warned Frank Rijsberman, Director General of the Colombo-based International Water Management Institute. These changes are further exacerbated by the world’s population growth, which also puts pressure on food production.
At the conference, particular emphasis was placed on water for agriculture, described as the "big issue in the next few decades". Globally, agriculture uses between 70 to 90 percent of developed water supplies and the livelihoods of 70 percent of the world’s poor depend largely on farming. According to a report by David Molden and Charlotte de Fraiture assessing water management in agriculture, large-scale irrigation systems have led to aquatic ecosystem degradation and the drying up of wetlands. Agricultural subsidies are seen as one of key factors contributing to these problems, a report by SIWI and IWMI points out. Such subsidies stimulate production while depressing food prices, making it difficult for those farmers who do not receive subsidies to compete while at the same time removing incentives for farmers to invest in improved practices.
Increasing productivity
Given such constraints, experts in Stockholm discussed means through which both the developed and developing world could address the challenges associated with water. Among the top priorities, experts identified improvements in water productivity as a crucial means to extract more value from each drop of water used. Moreover, improved crop varieties, together with better tillage methods and more precise drip or micro irrigation, could also reduce water consumption and increase crop yields. "If we can improve water productivity by 40 percent over the next twenty-five years, we’ll be able to reduce the global need for extra water for irrigation to zero," explained Professor Frank Rijsberman, Director General of IWMI.
Looking towards trade for a solution?
Trade in "virtual water", i.e. increased trade in food from water-abundant to water-scarce regions, was also cited as a possible option. Molden and de Fraiture note that trade could reduce water consumption in agriculture if exporters were able to achieve higher water productivity than importers. In reality, however, no relationship currently exists between countries’ available water resources and their volume of trade, the authors note. Moreover, a heavy reliance on imported food might not work in areas without money or market infrastructure to distribute food. Nevertheless, given the adverse effects of intensive irrigated agriculture on the environment, Molden and de Fraiture call for any evaluation of the social and environmental impacts of WTO Agreements to also include the monitoring of virtual water flows associated with agricultural trade.
Another strategy would be to increase the use of "water markets", which Roger Bate of the American Enterprise Institute claims would be more efficient, equitable and better for the environment. As an example, he points to Chile, which allows water rights to be traded between those holding quotas and as a result has seen a substantial effect on flexibility and hence productivity. Australia has also experienced success in terms of market sophistication. Water markets will eventually have to be legalised to enable farmers to secure title over water so they can provide for the massive and growing populations of India and China, Bate adds. This alternative, however, is expensive, he warns, especially for low-income countries and may have negative implications for poor farmers.
"Overarching Conclusions And Comments From The 2004 Stockholm Water Symposium," SIWI, 20 August 2004; "Water Markets May Prove the Way to Stave off Water Wars," THE TELEGRAPH, 30 August 2004; "Amplifying Every Drop the Focus of World Water Week," ENS, 17 August 2004; "Priceless," THE ECONOMIST, 17 July 2003; " World Scientists Issue Wake-up Call on Water and Food," ONEWORLD UK, 19 August 2004.