Water for people.pdf - WHO Thailand Digital Repository

S E C U R I N G F O O D F O R A G R O W I N G W O R L D P O P U L A T I O N / 2 2 1agriculture to internalize its costs will improve. Water still has alarge unmet potential to help alleviate poverty andundernourishment. In taking this direction, agricultural watermanagement will continue to require better integration with ruralhousehold water uses, and to make more positive contributions inenvironmental management. Food for all could be achieved muchearlier than present projections indicate, provided that thenecessary policies are backed with the necessary resources. Theeconomic, social and environmental cost of continued foodinsecurity for hundreds of millions of people is high.Agriculture can use water more efficiently than present practicesindicate. Technology for efficient transport of water from the site ofabstraction to the field, and for delivering it to the crop plants with aminimum of losses, is available and is actually applied wherever water isscarce. Irrigation water use efficiency increases when the right policyand market incentives are in place. As competition for limited waterresources and pressure to internalize environmental impacts intensify ina number of countries, agriculture and, in particular, irrigation comesunder growing pressure to review and adapt its policies and institutions,including the water rights and allocation system. Under suchcircumstances as in the Near East/North Africa region, current waterefficiency is relatively high and projected to further increase. Data showan aggregate low water use efficiency in the water-rich Latin Americaregion, and it is not predicted to increase significantly in the future asthere are no other large-scale users in competition with agriculture;locally, however, wherever water is scarce, high efficiency is also morefrequent throughout the region. Agriculture can also increase the useof recycled water and water stemming from non-conventional sources.Progress since Rio at a glanceAgreed actionProgress since RioAgree that population growth has caused great strains on food productionAgree that food security not only involves food production, but also access to food, post-production handling andstorage, and nutritional valueSuitably expand irrigated areaProvide associated inputs such as credit, input supplies, markets, appropriate pricing and transportation to maximizereturns from agricultureImplement water-saving technology and management methods in both rainfed and irrigated agricultureEnable communities to introduce institutions and provide incentives for rural populations to adopt new approachesProvide water supplies of suitable quality for livestock productionMaximize yield of aquatic food organisms in an environmentally sound mannerUnsatisfactory Moderate Satisfactory