Freshwater scarcity – one of the biggest challenges of our time

2025-04-08

Dr. Ihab Mohammed Al-Shabani

Ministry of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Department

If we don't change our habits now, global water demand could increase by 50% by 2030 (FAO (2018).

 Introduction: Water is essential for agricultural production and food security. They are the lifeblood of ecosystems, including forests, lakes and wetlands, on which food and nutrition security for present and future generations depends, however, our freshwater resources are dwindling at an alarming rate, and increasing water scarcity is now one of the major challenges to sustainable development, and this challenge will become even more urgent as the world's population continues to swell, its living standards increase, food systems change, and the effects of climate change intensify.

According to the diet we need between two thousand and 5 thousand liters of water to produce the daily food consumed by one person, with an estimated 10 billion people by 2050, demand for food is expected to increase by more than 50 percent; evidence suggests that two-thirds of the world's population could live in water-deficit countries by 2025 if current consumption patterns continue. In order to achieve a world without hunger by 2030, we must take action today, and there are only three areas where we can work. To save this precious resource, they are the following areas:

1-    Agriculture: Agriculture is a major cause of water scarcity and suffers from this shortage at the same time, as it constitutes about 70 percent of all water pumping, and reaches 95 percent in some developing countries, but there are improvements we can achieve in terms of how water is used to produce food, the choice of crops, for example, greatly affects the amount of water required, the legume crops have a small water footprint that means that the production of one kilogram From lentils only needs 1250 liters of water?. Compare this to the amount of 13,000 liters of water needed to produce one kilogram of beef!

2-  Climate change: Water scarcity is expected to worsen as a result of climate change, and this is expected to lead to rising temperatures around the world, and frequent and severe droughts have an impact on agricultural production, while high temperatures are reflected in the increasing demand for water for crops, in addition to improvements in water use efficiency and agricultural productivity, we must take action in the use and reuse of freshwater resources surrounding crops, and increase the safe use of wastewater. This will not prevent drought, but it can help prevent drought from leading to famine and socio-economic chaos.

3-    Food loss and waste: Reducing food loss and waste plays an important role in the wiser use of water, every year a third of global food production is lost or wasted - and translates into the loss of a volume of agricultural water equivalent to about three times the size of Lake Geneva, and we can all make small changes in our daily lives to reduce food waste, by cooking dishes from leftovers and buying only what we need.

4-    Food systems: Water is often used inefficiently in the food value chain, in addition, key decisions such as the choice of sites, technology and suppliers are often made without taking into account the effects of this process on the availability and quality of water resources, especially when water is not a limiting factor either in quantities or in terms of price. Researchers must propose effective solutions to ensure that water use in agriculture is made more efficient, productive, equitable and environmentally friendly, and this involves producing more food. With less water use, building the capacity of farming communities to cope with floods and droughts, and applying clean water technologies that protect the environment.

Conclusion: Water scarcity is at the heart of sustainable development, simply because we cannot grow the food we need if we don't have enough water! We must change our habits and act now to protect this precious resource, which is one of the most important ingredients to achieve a world without hunger!

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