More Nutrition per Drop
This paper highlights key facts, conditions and trends regarding water aspects of food production and consumption. Additionally, it explores its relation to sustainable food production and consumption patterns. It also highlights key water food-nutrition-environment-livelihood trends, provides bona fide response options and illustrates important policy directions for discussion in the near future.
Despite laudable efforts and accomplishments in globalfood production, 840 million people remain undernourished. The Millennium Development Goals agreed upon by the Millennium Assembly of the United Nations in 2000 seek i.a. to halve the number of undernourished people in the world by 2015. This, in itself, is a gigantic task of paramount importance to be addressed by the international community. Moreover, the goals seek this target within an environmentally sustainable and socially acceptable framework.
Food production consumes large amounts of water. Water scarcity is a harsh reality that affects billions of people in many parts of the world. Therefore, water development and management must be addressed and changed if we are to reduce the number of undernourished people. Development and management becomes even more compelling due to the growing competition for water, which has created an increasing and conflicting global demand.
