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Catch every drop to fight world hunger
This week–
Catch every drop to fight world hunger ANDY COGHLAN
SURVIVAL of the world’s poorest and most malnourished people could depend on squeezing more out of every raindrop that falls on poverty-stricken regions of Africa and Asia, says a comprehensive report on the state of the world’s water supplies. Released on Monday in Stockholm, Sweden, at a conference to mark World Water Week (20 – 26 August), the report by the International Water Management Institute in Colombo, Sri Lanka, warns that the world can’t carry on complacently using water as if it will never run out. “Business as usual is not an option,” says David Molden, coordinator of the report, entitled “Insights from the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture”.
It concludes that water scarcity now affects a third of the world’s population, and identifies two types: economic scarcity, caused by a lack of investment, and physical scarcity, where supply cannot meet demand. This situation has materialised 20 years sooner than a preliminary assessment five years ago predicted. The reason for the discrepancy is that the earlier predictions were based on a country-by-country analysis. The latest figures represent a more detailed analysis of natural water basins, compiled over five years with input from 700 experts. Several basins, such as that of the Yellow river in north-east China, are exhausted to the point that they cannot support any increase in demand. The good news is that the cheapest and most efficient ways to tackle the situation are those
that benefit the poor by helping them store and utilise rainfall that at present is wasted. The report says that improving the efficiency of rain-fed agriculture is the fastest, cheapest way to end malnutrition, raise poor farmers out of poverty, preserve natural habitats and halt spiralling depletion of fresh water supplies. Simple measures such as catching water in huge tubular plastic bags and storing roof and road run-off could double or even triple food production in sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia, effectively increasing productivity from each raindrop by that amount. “That’s the best bang for your buck in terms of poverty reduction and productivity gains from water,” says Molden. The environment wins too, as the measures would slow farmers’ invasion of natural habitats. If the proposals are successfully implemented, rain-fed agriculture would only need to expand by 10 per cent into natural habitats by 2050, the report concludes. That compares with 60 per cent if the plans aren’t implemented or don’t work as
PARCHED PLANET Water shortages can be due to demand outstripping supply (physical scarcity) or underinvestment in infrastructure (economic scarcity) Little or no water scarcity Physical water scarcity Approaching physical water scarcity Economic water scarcity Not estimated
14 | NewScientist | 26 August 2006
060826_N_p14.indd 14
“Catching water in huge bags and storing roof and road run-off could triple food production in sub-Saharan Africa” well as hoped. Similar techniques developed in the semi-arid Brazilian region of Cerredos won this year’s World Food Prize, and Molden says they could easily be adapted for use by farmers in Africa’s savannahs. Crucially, the relatively simple measures could allow farmers to survive short periods of drought that currently destroy their harvests, reducing their risks of failure. “If you don’t have water [for] two weeks in the Sahel, you’ll have crop failure, and at present that happens every four or five years so people don’t risk it,” says Molden. “Our idea is to have water set aside for an ‘unrainy’ day as your insurance against drought,” he says. Couple that with development of better-yielding, hardier crops and the escape from poverty could become easier. Results presented a month ago in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, at the Africa Rice Congress showed that farmers planting a higheryielding rice in Benin earned enough extra money to send their children to school and pay for medical treatment. “We’re saying that water investment is that step-1 piece that will lift people out of poverty,” says Molden, especially if coupled with increased use of fertiliser. As to making it happen, Molden says that pan-African bodies such as NEPAD, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development established five years ago, could get things moving at the continent level by prioritising resources for rain-fed farmers. Then the projects could be followed through regionally and locally. Action has to begin now, however. If nothing changes, feeding the planet will require twice as much water by 2050; putting the report’s proposals into practice could halve that increase in demand. ● www.newscientist.com
22/8/06 2:57:37 pm
Catch every drop to fight world hunger ANDY COGHLAN
SURVIVAL of the world’s poorest and most malnourished people could depend on squeezing more out of every raindrop that falls on poverty-stricken regions of Africa and Asia, says a comprehensive report on the state of the world’s water supplies. Released on Monday in Stockholm, Sweden, at a conference to mark World Water Week (20 – 26 August), the report by the International Water Management Institute in Colombo, Sri Lanka, warns that the world can’t carry on complacently using water as if it will never run out. “Business as usual is not an option,” says David Molden, coordinator of the report, entitled “Insights from the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture”.
It concludes that water scarcity now affects a third of the world’s population, and identifies two types: economic scarcity, caused by a lack of investment, and physical scarcity, where supply cannot meet demand. This situation has materialised 20 years sooner than a preliminary assessment five years ago predicted. The reason for the discrepancy is that the earlier predictions were based on a country-by-country analysis. The latest figures represent a more detailed analysis of natural water basins, compiled over five years with input from 700 experts. Several basins, such as that of the Yellow river in north-east China, are exhausted to the point that they cannot support any increase in demand. The good news is that the cheapest and most efficient ways to tackle the situation are those
that benefit the poor by helping them store and utilise rainfall that at present is wasted. The report says that improving the efficiency of rain-fed agriculture is the fastest, cheapest way to end malnutrition, raise poor farmers out of poverty, preserve natural habitats and halt spiralling depletion of fresh water supplies. Simple measures such as catching water in huge tubular plastic bags and storing roof and road run-off could double or even triple food production in sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia, effectively increasing productivity from each raindrop by that amount. “That’s the best bang for your buck in terms of poverty reduction and productivity gains from water,” says Molden. The environment wins too, as the measures would slow farmers’ invasion of natural habitats. If the proposals are successfully implemented, rain-fed agriculture would only need to expand by 10 per cent into natural habitats by 2050, the report concludes. That compares with 60 per cent if the plans aren’t implemented or don’t work as
PARCHED PLANET Water shortages can be due to demand outstripping supply (physical scarcity) or underinvestment in infrastructure (economic scarcity) Little or no water scarcity Physical water scarcity Approaching physical water scarcity Economic water scarcity Not estimated
14 | NewScientist | 26 August 2006
060826_N_p14.indd 14
“Catching water in huge bags and storing roof and road run-off could triple food production in sub-Saharan Africa” well as hoped. Similar techniques developed in the semi-arid Brazilian region of Cerredos won this year’s World Food Prize, and Molden says they could easily be adapted for use by farmers in Africa’s savannahs. Crucially, the relatively simple measures could allow farmers to survive short periods of drought that currently destroy their harvests, reducing their risks of failure. “If you don’t have water [for] two weeks in the Sahel, you’ll have crop failure, and at present that happens every four or five years so people don’t risk it,” says Molden. “Our idea is to have water set aside for an ‘unrainy’ day as your insurance against drought,” he says. Couple that with development of better-yielding, hardier crops and the escape from poverty could become easier. Results presented a month ago in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, at the Africa Rice Congress showed that farmers planting a higheryielding rice in Benin earned enough extra money to send their children to school and pay for medical treatment. “We’re saying that water investment is that step-1 piece that will lift people out of poverty,” says Molden, especially if coupled with increased use of fertiliser. As to making it happen, Molden says that pan-African bodies such as NEPAD, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development established five years ago, could get things moving at the continent level by prioritising resources for rain-fed farmers. Then the projects could be followed through regionally and locally. Action has to begin now, however. If nothing changes, feeding the planet will require twice as much water by 2050; putting the report’s proposals into practice could halve that increase in demand. ● www.newscientist.com
22/8/06 2:57:37 pm