How to Ensure Sustainable Access to Water for Food in a World of Growing Scarcity

Abstract

This presentation describes the role of water has for agriculture and food security, describes the challenges facing irrigated agriculture today and in the future, and discusses a range of policies, institutions, and investments that are urgently needed to secure adequate access to water for food. Key challenges addressed include increasing intersectoral competition, degradation of water and land resources and the environment, growing water pollution, unsustainable groundwater use, water use for biofuel production, and climate change impacts on water for agriculture.