*EPF408 10/17/2002
Much of World Facing Water Scarcity, Institute Reports
(Urges countries to invest now in water infrastructure) (490)

By Kathryn McConnell
Washington File Staff Writer

Much of the world is facing severe water scarcity, but an impending water crisis can be averted, according to a new report from the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

The report released October 16 urges countries to invest now in infrastructure that would increase the supply of water for irrigation, domestic and industrial purposes. October 16 was World Food Day, observed by approximately 150 countries, according to a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) press release.

Current trends in global water use threaten future breakdowns in domestic water service, serious reductions in food production, increases in food prices and environmental damage, the IFPRI report says. IFPRI is an independent research institute.

The report says the situation is the most critical in developing countries.

The report adds that if current trends continue or worsen by 2025 the world will experience annual losses of at least 130 million metric tons of food production -- twice the current annual wheat crop. It predicts that by 2025 water demand will be 50 percent greater than in 1995.

The report says "excessive diversions" of water flows and overdraft of groundwater have already caused environmental damage in many regions of the world and competition for the resource among households, industry and agriculture.

It says that because of accelerated pumping, after 2010 key aquifers in northern China, northern and northwestern India, West Asia and North Africa will begin to fail. It adds that excessive extraction has already reduced the water supply for human use in Central Asia's Aral Sea Basin.

The report says new policies and investment are needed to improve the efficiency of water use, including improved crop productivity per unit of water. The report also urges more agricultural research, including in the areas of crop breeding and rain-fed agriculture water management.

The important role of water in food security was also stressed by FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf during a World Food Day ceremony at FAO headquarters in Rome. The theme of this year's World Food Day observances was "Water: Source of Food Security," according to the FAO release.

"The combined vicious impact of poverty, rising demand for food and insufficient availability of water poses a serious challenge for world food security and universal access to clean water," Diouf said in the release.

Diouf said the world needs to produce more food using less water so that enough water remains for homes and industry. He said more attention should be given to the development and use of "careful irrigation practices."

Irrigation farming is at least twice as productive as rain-fed farming, Diouf said. Over the next three decades 70 percent of additional food production should come from irrigated land, he added.

In many regions of the world poor irrigation management has markedly lowered groundwater levels, damaged soil and reduced water quality, according to the IFPRI report.

In a written message read at the FAO ceremony, Pope John Paul urged "greater cooperation in protecting water supplies from contamination and improper use, and from that exploitation which aims only at profit and privilege."

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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