Too Little Water Water scarcity is not new, but the increasing number affected is Water scarcity is not new, but the increasing number of people that are affected is new: As many as two-thirds of world’s population experience extreme water scarcity for at least one month every year, said Richard Volk of USAID.
To meet demand, “we need 70 percent more food by 2050,” said Choularton.
“You can’t have food security without water security.” Water scarcity has long-term and wide-ranging effects on food supplies, leading to poor nutrition and poor health.
“In Niger, if you’re born during a drought year, you’re 50 percent more likely to be stunted than if you’re born in a non-drought year.” Drought-driven food insecurity can have global consequences Drought-driven food insecurity can have global consequences.
How do we produce more food amid growing water scarcity?
Dams can deprive ecosystems of natural flow and downstream users of essential fresh water, but they are also a relatively low-carbon source of energy.
Sustaining Water, Sustaining Stakeholders Media and governments “pay attention to floods and droughts because it hurts.
And it also hurts because you have to re-plan about how you do it in the future,” said Dalton.
The Stockholm Environment Institute holds workshops to engage competing stakeholders in a river basin.
Event Resources Sources: 2030 Water Resources Group, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Mars Inc, Sustainable Water Partnership, Transboundary water Assessment Programme, United Nations Water, Winrock International, World Food Program, World Wildlife Fund Photo Credit: Women queue for water near Moyale in the lowlands of Ethiopia’s Oromiya region, February 2006, courtesy of Flickr user Andrew Heavens