Approximately1.2billionpeople–17%of the world’s population – live in regionswhere water use has reached or exceededsustainablelimits.Evengreaternumbers,1.6billionpeople,sufferfromeconomicscarcity:theylackaccesstoadequatesuppliesofwater.Economic water scarcity is the reality for asignificant proportion of farming families

in ACP countries, and one of the factorsresponsibleforlowproductivityandwide-spreadpoverty.

It is not just the increase in populationthat is fuelling the rising demand for water.Changing dietary patterns and growingaffluenceinthedevelopingworldarecloselyassociatedwithanincreaseinmeatconsump-tion. A diet high in grain-fed meat requiresapproximately 5000 litres of water per day,comparedto2500litresforavegetariandiet.

No 2: June 2011

CTA Policy Brief

FACING UP TO THE WATER CRISIS

The rate at which we consume water has grown twice as fast as the world population over the past century, with many countries now suffering from water scarcity. Approximately 90% of the water

gathered through irrigation and rainfall is used to produce food. To keep pace with population growth and dietary changes, the amount of water used by agriculture will have to double by 2050 – unless we change our patterns of production and consumption.

At the Brussels Development Briefing on The Water We Eat 1, experts highligh-ted the measures required if future generations are to make sustainable use of the world’s finite supply of water. Policy-makers worldwide should pay greater attention to the agricultural use of water. ACP countries should introduce initiatives to help farmers improve their productivity per unit of water consumed. There should be a strong emphasis on small-scale, low-cost methods of improving rain-fed farming. Steps should be taken to improve access to water, especially for women and the rural poor in ACP countries. There is an urgent need for better water governance, both within and between countries.

The water we eat – tackling scarcity in acp countries

POlICy POINTERS Give priority to increasing productivity in areas used for rain-fed agriculture, where a little more water could go a long way

Implement a cross-sectoral approach and promote the involvement of farmers’ groups and other users to improve water governance

Encourage investment in institutions and infrastructure that improve access to water in environmentally sensitive ways

Raise public awareness about water use and scarcity

1 Organised by CTA, the European Commission (DG DEVCO), the Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Concord, the European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development. Brussels, April 2011. http://brusselsbriefings.net

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fifth of cultivated land is now under irriga-tion,producing40%ofourfood.However,there was relatively little investment duringthisperiodinwater-relatedschemesinsub-SaharanAfrica,where just4%ofcultivatedland is under irrigation, compared to 50%inIndia.

Facing Reality Waterisgrosslyundervalued.Inthede-velopedworld,acubicmetreofhigh-qualitydrinkingwaterisoftenworthnomorethanthepriceofacigarette,andinmanycoun-triesfarmersconsideritafreeresource.Morecouldbedonetopublicisethetruecostsoffood production by using the concepts ofvirtual water and water footprints to drawattention to its agricultural use. The factsarefrequentlystartling.Itrequires140litresofwatertomakeacupofcoffee;1000litrestoproducealitreofmilk;and2700litrestomanufactureacottonT-shirt.

InACPcountries,theagriculturaluseofwaterreceivestoolittleattention,consideringits importance for rural communities. Thishastochange.Policymakersshouldrecognisethatbettermanagementof inputs,andespe-cially improved water management, couldsignificantly increasecropandlivestockpro-ductivity.

Targeting low-yield farmers AccordingtothereportbyIWMIontheComprehensiveAssessmentofWaterMana-gementinAgriculture,75%oftheadditionalfood we need over the next decades couldbe met by increasing the production of theworld’slow-yieldfarmersto80%ofthelevelshigh-yieldfarmerscurrentlyachieveonsimi-larland.

In sub-Saharan Africa, policymakersshould focus their attention on improving

CTA Policy Brief

Otherfactorsaffectingwateravailabilityanddemand include climate change and urba-nisation.

Four-fifths of nations are net importersof food. This means they are also net im-portersof ‘virtualwater’.Thisdescribesthewaterwhichisusedtogrowcropsandrearlivestock in the countries of origin. Tradehas therefore enabled countries which lacksufficient water to become food-secure byimporting food from elsewhere. This is thegood news. However, there is a downsideto this trade: subsidised crops grown andexported by European and US farmers de-pressworldmarketprices,makinglifemoredifficultforACPfarmers.

Massive public investment in irrigationduring the latter half of the 20th century,especially in Asia, did much to raise cropyieldsandtacklehunger.Globally,almosta

of cultivated land is under irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to 50% in India

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productivity in areas devoted to rain-fedagriculture.Byintroducinggoodagriculturalpractices,restoringdegradedsoilsandencou-ragingarangeofwaterandlandmanagementsolutions,grainyieldscouldbedramaticallyincreased without using much additionalwater.Waterharvestingorpumpscanprovidewaterduringcriticaldry-spellperiods,redu-cingrisksofcropdevastation.Whenrisksarediminished,farmerswillinglyinvestinbetteragriculturalpractices.Thisleadstomorefoodbeinggrownperunitoflandandwater.

Small-scale irrigation schemes, financedbyfarmers,golargelyunrecordedbygovern-ments and donors, yet these spontaneous

CTA Policy Brief

Small-scale irrigation schemes, financed by farmers, go largely unrecorded by governments and donors who should support them.”

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and unregulated initiatives are playing anincreasingly important role in sub-SaharanAfrica,helpingfamiliestoboostincomesbygrowingcashcropsduringthedryseason.

Policymakersanddonorsshouldsupportthese relatively inexpensive ventures, whileallowingfarmerstodeterminewhichsystems– buckets, watering cans, electric pumps,small dams – they adopt. Water storage bysmall reservoirs, in groundwater, in soils orwetlandsisessentialtoreducetherisksasso-ciatedwithshort-termdryspells.Waterscar-citymaybeaglobalissue,butthesolutionsmust be determined locally, with farmershelpingtoshapepolicy.

Improving access for women and the rural poor In some water-scarce regions farmersconsider access to water to be more criticalthanaccesstoprimaryhealthcareandedu-cation. Limited access to reliable, safe andaffordable water is preventing millions offamiliesfromescapingpoverty.ItisessentialthatpolicymakersinACPcountriesguaran-teefairaccesstowater,andacknowledgethehistoricrightsofuseofruralpeople.

Women frequently find themselves ata disadvantage when it comes to obtainingscarce water resources. Leaving aside issuesofequity, therearecompellingreasonswhywomen should have equal access to water:in many countries, they perform the bulkof agricultural activities. National and localgovernmentsshouldmakeaconcertedefforttoensurethatwomenbenefitfromthesamewaterrightsasmen,whetherthesearecollec-tiveorindividualrights.

It’s about more than water ManyACPcountriesneedtoreformthewaytheyoverseetheuseofwater.Thismayinvolvemoredecentraliseddecision-making,withtheparticipationoffarmingcommuni-ties and other user groups; the assignmentof secure user rights; and a greater reliance

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The policies described above could pavethewayformoreefficientandproductiveuseof scarce water resources. Creating greaterawareness about the ways we use and abusewaterwillhelptoinformthechoicesmadebygovernments,theprivatesector,farmersandconsumers.

InACPcountries,supportforsmall-scale,low-cost water storage and irrigation sche-meswillsignificantlyincreasecropyieldsanddelivermorefoodperunitofwater.Policieswhichguaranteefairaccesstowaterforruraldwellers, especially for women, will enablefarmingfamiliestogrowmorefood,andim-provetheirdietsandincomes.ToavoidtheenvironmentaldamagefrequentlyassociatedwithirrigatedfarminginAsiaandthedeve-lopedworld,goodwaterstewardshipshouldbeattheheartofnewirrigationinitiativesinACPcountries.n

Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (ACP-EU)

P.O. Box 380 - 6700 AJ Wageningen - The Netherlands

Tel: +31 (0) 317 467 100 - E-mail: cta@cta.int - www.cta.int

on market mechanisms to ensure the mostcost-effectiveallocationandmanagementofscarcewaterresources.Governmentsshouldrecognise that this is a cross-sectoral issue,with many ministries having an interest inthewaywaterisused.

Well-informednegotiationsareessentialifcompetingdemandsforwateraretobemet.Civil societycanplayakeyrolebyensuringthatthosegroupswithoutsecuretitle,suchassmallholderfarmers,developastrongcollec-tivevoice.

There are a number of important trans-boundaryissueswhichrequiretheattentionof policymakers. Most obviously, countrieswhichsharemajorwatershedsmustreconciletheirownwaterdemands,whichareinvaria-blyincreasing,withthoseoftheirneighbours.Regional protocols already exist for manytransboundary rivers, and these will play anincreasingly important role in minimisingthe adverse impacts of major developmentsandthepotentialforconflict.

Well-informed negotiations are essential if competing demands for water are to be met.”

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IB Taurus. Virtual Water. Allan,J.A.(Tony).2011.

CTA. Briefing N° 22, The water we eat: challenges for ACP countries in times of scarcity. AReader.BotoI.,LopesIandGodeauM-P.2011.http://brusselsbriefings.net

FAO. Climate change, water and food security. Technical background paper. Conferenceonfoodsecurity,2008.http://tinyurl.com/3bz5jw6

Springer Science + Business media. Water footprints of nations: Water use by people as a function of their consumption pattern. Hoekstra,A.,Chapagain,A.K.2006.http://tinyurl.com/28boyg

Earthscan and IWMI. Water for food, water for life. A comprehensive assessment of water management in agriculture. Molden,D.2007.http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/assessment

IWMI. Agricultural Water Management Solutions: http://awm-solutions.iwmi.org

Further reading

bETTER WATER STEWARDSHIP

CTA Policy Brief