The Global Water Crisis: Addressing an Urgent Security - Unu-inweh ...

one and has yet to attain widespread achievement. Consistent exclusion of women or other marginalized groups from
these discussions, processes and roles means that there is inequity in the outcomes of interventions, and poverty has
persisted amongst certain rural communities and marginalized groups. The result is that large numbers of people have
not been able to cross the divide out of subsistence agriculture into making a profitable livelihood due to limitations over
which they have no control.
4. How Should We Invest in Water Today?
Agricultural water is a key aspect of the development challenge, and is an important entry point for addressing poverty
and environmental issues. There is potential to greatly reduce the environmental impact of agriculture while improving
the livelihoods of rural communities.
Where there is economic scarcity, investments in infrastructure are urgently needed. However, such investments must no
longer take the form of large dams, but rather should encompass a wide range of storage options, from better soil and
water management to groundwater recharge, from small tanks and ponds to large dams. Improving storage essentially
means improving farmers’ control of water — a critical way to aid in the adaptation to variability from climate change.
By looking at options from a range of perspectives, including costs, it ensures that solutions better match the problems
they are intended to address.
In places with physical scarcity, investment is also needed in some similar forms of storage so that farmers have better
control of water, as water control is key to increasing agricultural productivity with the same or less water input. It also
means investing in new institutions and solutions for demand management (Chartres and Varma, 2010). Investment in
innovative water and land management practices that encourage better water use more sustainably would also help to
increase agricultural productivity. It is especially important that when policy advocates for a change in practices in areas
that are environmentally fragile and support a large number of the vulnerable and poor, it is mindful of the precarious
livelihoods of such communities. There are very real trade-offs involved, particularly for the very poor, when change is
prescribed on the grounds of sustainability.
While it is easy to propose better institutions and policies, implementation is rarely as easy, as change in water use is
often surrounded by a complex political economy. However, this does not mean that change is not possible; it only means
that political constraints must also be recognized in crafting new models. An example of this was demonstrated by the
Jyotigram scheme in Gujarat in India, in which a power subsidy was created that encouraged groundwater extraction, but
later could not be changed due to political lobbies (Shah et al., 2008). Later, an alternative approach was found in which
the government separated electricity supplies for agriculture and household use. Although supplies to farmers were
rationed, the approach was accepted because the quality of power supply was improved. The end result was a reduction
in groundwater overdraft as well as electricity waste (Shah et al., 2008).
Conclusions
The goal to meet food needs while supporting social and economic development and simultaneously minimizing
environmental degradation requires a mainstreaming of water issues. Agricultural water intersects with many other
sectors and is also increasingly impacted by competing water use in other sectors. While the world will continue to face
the task of producing more food to meet its future needs, there is growing pressure to ensure that business-as-usual
approaches to water use in agriculture change. There is vocal concern from both environmentalists about the state of
rivers and wetlands, and from governments who are faced with persistent poverty in rural areas where development in
water infrastructure has not delivered its promised transformations. Investment in water as a solution to addressing these
development challenges presents a new way of looking at agricultural water – as an enabler of wise use and transformation.
98 The Global Water Crisis: Addressing an Urgent Security Issue