18/10/2023 - Adaptation of agriculture to water scarcity

World Food Day (16 October) is internationally celebrated and is an occasion to promote worldwide awareness of hunger and promote action for the future of food, people and the planet. It also commemorates the date of the founding of the FAO in 1945. In 2023, the focus is on the theme “Water is life, water is food. Leave no one behind.”.

Water is a driving force for people, economies and nature and the foundation of our food. Indeed, agriculture accounts for 72% of global freshwater withdrawals, but like all natural resources, fresh water is not infinite.

Rapid population growth, urbanization, economic development, and climate change are putting the planet’s water resources under increasing stress. At the same time, freshwater resources per person have declined 20% in the past decades and water availability and quality are deteriorating fast due to decades of poor use and management, over extraction of groundwater, pollution and climate change. We risk stretching this precious resource to a point of no return.

Today, 2.4 billion people live in water-stressed countries. Many are smallholder farmers who already struggle to meet their daily needs, particularly women, Indigenous Peoples, migrants, and refugees. Competition for this priceless resource is increasing as water scarcity becomes an ever-increasing cause of conflict.

We need to produce more food and other essential agricultural commodities with less water, while ensuring water is distributed equally and nobody is left behind.

This event aims to reflect on the current evidence on addressing water scarcity in the agricultural sector and to come up with a priority agenda for future research.

Reference will be made to The Global Framework for Action to Cope with Water Scarcity in Agriculture in the Context of Climate Change (WASAG). This is a Partnership hosted by FAO and consisting of government agencies, international organizations, research institutions, advocacy groups and professional/membership organizations. WASAG fosters collaboration among its partners for the development and deployment of policies, strategies, and programmes, enhancing field capacity for the adaptation of agriculture to water scarcity.

A first panel will reflect on the situation in Belgium, a second panel will zoom out and consider the international state-of-play.

In Belgium, a large population inhabiting a small area and water-intensive sectors in agriculture and industry lead to a high water consumption. Moreover, excessive paving in urban areas, canals and drainage pipes prevent water from soaking into the soil. Climate change is also causing longer periods of drought alternating with heavy rainfall. These factors make Belgium vulnerable to water scarcity and drought. At different policy levels, action is undertaken, i.e. the national Climate Adaptation Plan, the Flemish Blue Deal and the Walloon Committee of Climate Experts.

At international level, 2023 was an important year for water action. In March, the UN Water Conference resulted in a global Water Action Agenda, where commitments for accelerated implementation and improved impact on SDG 6[1] are gathered. In July, the FAO Conference adopted water as the biannual theme for the Organization’s work in 2024-25.

As a knowledge institute, FAO has always cherished good partnerships with academia. With the fourth renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding upcoming, the collaboration with UC Louvain is a good example of this. This specific partnership aims to increase access to and exchange of information, knowledge and expertise in the field of climate change adaptation and mitigation and combating desertification with direct benefit for the services that FAO can provide to its members within the framework of a Better Production and a Better Environment and the SDGs 2, 13 and 15.

The Louvain4water is a platform within UC Louvain that aims to address the complexity of water through a multidisciplinary research platform for developing fundamental and applied research activities, advanced training programmes and services related to water. It develops projects in water resource management, risk management (floods, drought, pollution, conflict), political and socio-economic governance, exploitation and distribution and health and sanitation.

The event will be organized in the frame of the Circle U. Knowledge Hubs on Climate, of which Prof. Marnik Vanclooster (UCLouvain) is chair. This will enable the (virtual) participation of students and scholars from 8 different European Universities, namely Aarhus University, University of Belgrade, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, King’s College London, University of Oslo, Université Paris Cité, University of Pisa and University of Vienna.

The UNESCO Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP), founded in 1975 following the International Hydrological Decade (1965-1974), is the only intergovernmental cooperation programme of the UN system dedicated to water research and management, and related education and capacity development. It addresses national, regional, and global water challenges, by supporting the development of sustainable and resilient societies. Expanding a holistic understanding of water, improving technical capabilities, and enhancing human and institutional capacities are IHP’s main tools. IHP’s work supports sound, evidence-based water governance and decision-making drawing on transdisciplinary science and technology other knowledge systems. The UNESCO-IHP Belgian chapter is currently chaired by Prof. Ann van Griensven (VUB & IHE).

Moreover, the event will include contributions from other Belgian universities, namely KU Leuven, Université de Liège, UGhent, UAntwerp, VUB and ULB.