In less than 20 years, close to two billion people will be
without water and two thirds of the world will not have enough
water, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
warned in Rome on Wednesday.
According to the head of FAO's Water, Development and Management
Unit, Pasquale Steduto, water use has expanded at twice the rate of
population growth over the past 100 years creating conditions of
water scarcity.
Water shortages are obviously most acute in the driest areas of
the world, which are home to more than 2 billion people and to half
of all poor people.
Agriculture is the number-one user of water worldwide,
accounting for about 70 percent of all freshwater withdrawn from
lakes, waterways and aquifers around the world.
"Water has a major impact on the capacity of people everywhere
to improve their lives. In many regions, farmers trying to produce
enough food and income face the added challenges of repeated
droughts and competition for water," Steduto said.
One way to deal with water scarcity is through farming-related
techniques that harvest more rainfall, reduce waste in irrigation
and increase productivity, and in changes in crop and dietary
choices, Steduto added.
Steduto is currently chairman of the UN's coordinating agency
UN-Water, which includes UN departments that have a significant
role in tackling global water concerns as well as non-UN
partners.
This year Rome-based FAO is coordinating World Water Day, on
March 22, which will be dedicated to the theme of "Coping With
Water Scarcity" and focus on the need for increased cooperation at
international and local levels to protect global water
resources.
(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2007)
