LONDON, NNC – The United Nations (UN) through the Agriculture and Food Organization (FAO) reported that countries in North Africa and the Middle East should better prepare for drought disasters as water shortages are projected to worsen.
Over the last 40 years, droughts have lasted longer and are relatively frequent in the region, where clean water sources are among the lowest in the world.
"It looks like things will get worse due to climate change," said Rene Castro, deputy head of the FAO climate office, in a statement, Friday (6/15/2010).
"We need to look at and manage drought differently, and move from emergency response to proactive and long-term planning policies to reduce risks and build greater resilience," he said.
The report recommends planting plants that need little water, using more efficient irrigation systems of water, or lowering the number of livestock to prevent much grass consumption.
A number of villages in the southwestern part of Morocco near the Sahara desert have also used a water vapor collection project to process vapor into water to overcome water shortage.
Population and food demands, coupled with increasingly scarce water and land resources, could lead to food prices doubling and triggering civil unrest in some developing countries.
According to a UN World Water Development report in 2018 released by the United Nations, water scarcity has affected more than 40 percent of the world’s population.
"That number could rise as a result of global warming, with one in four people projected to face chronic shortages or shortcomings by 2050," he explained.