Managing water sustainably is

key to the future of food and

agriculture

BY: MARIE ROSE GUIMBANGAN II

11- STEM CALCITE
Agriculture is expected to face increasing water risks in
the future

Globally, agricultural regions have experienced severe and escalating water

restrictions in recent years. Severe droughts in Chile and the US have reduced
surface and groundwater supplies while affecting agricultural production. It is
anticipated that these as well as other extreme weather occurrences, like
floods or tropical storms, will occur more frequently. According to projections,
climate change will result in greater swings in precipitation and surface water
supplies, less snow cover and glaciers, and changes in agricultural water
needs.
In addition to these adjustments, the growing urban population density and the
water requirements of the energy and industrial sectors will put farmers in
many places at greater risk of competition from non-agricultural users.
Moreover, the expansion of polluting industries, salination brought on by rising
sea levels, and the aforementioned changes in water supply are all likely to
cause water quality to worsen in many locations.
The productivity of rain-fed and irrigated crops and livestock operations,
particularly in some nations and regions, are projected to be seriously
hampered by these water difficulties, which are expected to have a significant
impact on agriculture, a sector that depends heavily on water. These
modifications may have significant repercussions on markets, commerce, and
overall food security. Without additional action, Northeast China, Northwest
India, and the Southwest of the United States are expected to be among the
regions most severely impacted, with consequences for both the local economy
and the entire world, according to an OECD assessment of future water risk
hotspots.

Agriculture both contributes to and faces water risks

As much as these changes have an impact on agriculture, it also adds to the

issue because it is a significant user and polluter of water resources in many
areas. As a result, agriculture is essential to overcoming these difficulties. The
fact that farmers in the majority of nations do not pay the full cost of the water
they use encourages this tendency. Irrigated agriculture continues to be the
leading user of water globally. 70% of water use worldwide and over 40% in
several OECD nations is for irrigation in agriculture. Aquifers are depleted and
environmental externalities may result from intensive groundwater pumping for
irrigation, which has a large negative economic impact on the sector and
beyond. Moreover, agriculture continues to be a significant source of water
pollution; livestock waste, pesticide use, and agricultural runoff all affect the
quality of surface and groundwater.
What should governments do to confront water issues?
The difficulties that lay ahead are both quite complicated and regionally varied.
It will be crucial for policymakers to concentrate on actions that strengthen the
agricultural sector's resilience to water risks, decrease the sector's impact on
freshwater resources, and boost the sector's overall water use efficiency. In
order to achieve this, the OECD promotes a variety of policy approaches at
various levels, each customized to particular water resource systems .
Governments should take action at the farm, watershed, and national levels to
(1) strengthen and enforce existing water regulations, (2) create incentives for
farmers to improve their water use and better manage the use of polluting
agricultural inputs, and (3) remove policies that support excessive use of water
and polluting activities in order to facilitate a transition to a more sustainable
and productive agricultural sector that is resilient to water risks.
In order to help policy makers handle this issue, OECD analysis and indicators
support the formulation of policy responses, the definition of paths to achieve
the required policy changes, and the facilitation of their implementation to move
agriculture toward sustainable management of water. The 2016 OECD Council
Recommendation on Water also highlights the OECD's work on agriculture and
water. A declaration and action plan titled "Towards food and water security:
Fostering sustainability, advancing innovation" was adopted by agriculture
ministers at the G20 in 2017, and it contains a number of important
commitments to increase agriculture's water use, lessen its impact on water
quality, and lessen its exposure to water risks.