Experts: Global Water Resources Doubles Food Production

Xinhua News Agency, Brasilia, September 26 (Reporter Liu Wei) A study submitted to the 14th World Water Congress opened in Chittagong, Brazil, on the 26th, said that the world’s water resources are sufficient to make food production in the future. Double within 10 years to avoid a serious shortage of food due to rapid population growth. However, the inefficient use of water resources and the uneven geographical distribution of water resources are becoming “stumbling blocks” that hinder global food production.

The above report is a result of five years of research conducted by experts from 30 countries and regions and is published by the Water and Food Challenge Program. During the past five years, the experts conducted surveys and analysis of the water volume and use of major rivers such as the Indus, Ganges, Nile, Yellow, Niger and San Francisco rivers in Asia, Africa and Latin America. These river basins currently live with 1.5 billion people, of which 470 million are poor people.

The report said that doubling food production by 2050 is the world’s most urgent task, as it is expected that it will need to support up to 9.5 billion people by then. According to experts' analysis over the past five years, the current water resources in the Asia-Africa region are sufficient to meet their needs for food, energy, and industrial production and environmental protection in the 21st century.

According to the report, the so-called water shortage is merely a superficial phenomenon. In fact, a large amount of rainwater is wasted or never used. For example, in Africa, farmland and livestock use only 4% of river runoff. What hides behind the “global water shortage” argument is the serious use of inefficiency and uneven geographical distribution.

Alan Vidal, head of the water and food challenge plan organization, said in a statement that the so-called lack of water has not hindered global food production and that some regions are indeed lacking water. However, the new study found that the main problem is still the lack of use of water resources. The efficiency and geographical distribution are uneven. Once the use of water resources is “moderately improved, food production can be doubled or doubled at current levels”. Therefore, the issue of water resources is ultimately not a resource issue but a "political challenge."

Experts suggest that the government should establish the concept of “big water conservancy” in the use of river resources and build an “integrated framework” for management and utilization, instead of confining itself to power generation, irrigation, and industrial water use.

The World Water Conference, which was opened in Chittagong, Brazil on the 26th, was hosted by the International Water Resources Association and will be closed on the 30th. About 850 officials, NGO representatives and scholars from around the world attended the meeting to discuss how to use water resources more effectively in a sustainable manner.