Water for Food and Rural Development
Increases in world population and economic growth will threaten global water conservation and food security More water required to meet growing demand for food Irrigation is prerequisite for increased food production Water for Food
,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 9,000 10, Developing countries Least development countries Developed industrial countries Increasing World Population (Unit: million)
No data < –5 5–20 20–35 >35 % undernourished 800 Millions under-nourished people Percentage of undernourished people by country ( ). Prevalence of undernourishment is measured by the share of a country's total population that is undernourished
Water for Rural Development More than 1.3 billion people live under absolute poverty Majority of the poor are living in rural areas Modernization of agriculture with irrigation is a key to poverty alleviation
3,572b m34,913b m3 X Increasing Demand for Water Agriculture 70%Agriculture 64% Source:WMO
Agriculture ’ s use of water % Agricultural withdrawal No data –20 20–40 >40 Map showing agricultural water withdrawal as percentage of renewable water resource in 1998 by country, where withdrawals for agriculture are critically high (category 5) and indicative of water stress (category 4).
Themes attracting high interest
Examples of key issues Wise governance of agricultural water taking into account regional differences Multiple roles of agricultural water Sustainable use of agricultural water Capacity building and participatory management International partnership