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| Type | Independent scientific assessment |
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| Website | www |
The report A Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture [1] was published in 2007 by International Water Management Institute and Earthscan in an attempt to answer the question: how can water in agriculture be developed and managed to help end poverty and hunger, ensure environmentally sustainable practices, and find the right balance between food and environmental security?
Compiled after consultation with more than 700 individuals, numerous organisations and networks, it was the first critical evaluation of:
The assessment confirmed that agriculture consumes more water resources than any other sector. [2] A key finding was that a third of the world's population lives in water-scarce areas. More than 1.2 billion live in areas of physical water scarcity, lacking water resources. Parts of Australia and the United States suffer in this way. A further 1.6 billion people live in areas of economic water scarcity, where there is insufficient human capacity or financial resources for people to effectively make use of the water that is available. Here, sub-Saharan Africa is a good example; there is water in the rivers but no dams or pumps to enable people to use it. [3]
The report's authors forecast that the need for water would double within 50 years, due to global population rise, more people choosing to eat a diet of meat and vegetables rather than primarily consuming cereals, and climate change. [4] Generally, about one litre of liquid water gets converted to water vapour to produce one calorie of food. We each consume between 2,000 and 5,000 liters of water every day, depending on our diet and how the food is produced. This is far more than the two to five litres we drink every day. A heavy meat diet requires much more than a vegetarian diet, because water is used to grow food for the animals as well as being used directly to support the livestock. Economic growth fuels changes in diets; for example, per capita meat demand in China has quadrupled over the last 30 years, and milk and egg products are becoming increasingly popular in India. Growing cities, expanding industry and biofuels are increasingly competing for water with expanding agriculture.
The conclusion made by the report's authors was that only by changing the way we use water within agriculture would we be able to meet the acute water, environment and poverty challenges facing us over the next 50 years. They suggested that with wise policies and investments in irrigation, upgrading rainfed agriculture, and trade it would be possible to limit future growth in water withdrawals to 13% and the expansion of cultivated land to 9%. However, the effects of climate change and the increased use of biofuels would complicate matters, making actions necessary to address these. The Assessment found the greatest potential lay in rainfed areas of the world housing the highest number of poor people. Upgrading these rainfed lands through better water management held the greatest potential to increase productivity and decrease poverty. [5] The technology would not necessarily need to be complex; simple measures such as catching water in huge tubular plastic bags and storing roof and road run-off could double or even triple food production in sub-Saharan Africa and south-east Asia, effectively increasing productivity from each raindrop by that amount. [6]
The report recommended eight policy actions:
Agricultural productivity is measured as the ratio of agricultural outputs to inputs. While individual products are usually measured by weight, which is known as crop yield, varying products make measuring overall agricultural output difficult. Therefore, agricultural productivity is usually measured as the market value of the final output. This productivity can be compared to many different types of inputs such as labour or land. Such comparisons are called partial measures of productivity.
Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. It is defined as any change or disturbance to the environment perceived to be deleterious or undesirable.
Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit while satisfying the needs of consumers for products related to natural resources such as biotechnology, farms, food, forestry, fisheries, fuel, and fiber.
Environmental vegetarianism is the practice of vegetarianism that is motivated by the desire to create a sustainable diet, which avoids the negative environmental impact of meat production. Livestock as a whole is estimated to be responsible for around 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, significant reduction in meat consumption has been advocated by, among others, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in their 2019 special report and as part of the 2017 World Scientists' Warning to Humanity.
A low-carbon diet is any diet that results in lower greenhouse gas emissions. Choosing a low carbon diet is one facet of developing sustainable diets which increase the long-term sustainability of humanity. Major tenets of a low-carbon diet include eating a plant-based diet, and in particular little or no beef and dairy. Low-carbon diets differ around the world in taste, style, and the frequency they are eaten. Asian countries like India and China feature vegetarian and vegan meals as staples in their diets. In contrast, Europe and North America rely on animal products for their Western diets.
Water scarcity is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity namely physical and economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is where there is not enough water to meet all demands, including that needed for ecosystems to function. Arid areas for example Central Asia, West Asia, and North Africa often experience physical water scarcity. Economic water scarcity on the other hand, is the result of lack of investment in infrastructure or technology to draw water from rivers, aquifers, or other water sources. It also results from weak human capacity to meet water demand. Much of Sub-Saharan Africa experiences economic water scarcity.
The environmental impacts of animal agriculture vary because of the wide variety of agricultural practices employed around the world. Despite this, all agricultural practices have been found to have a variety of effects on the environment to some extent. Animal agriculture, in particular meat production, can cause pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, disease, and significant consumption of land, food, and water. Meat is obtained through a variety of methods, including organic farming, free-range farming, intensive livestock production, and subsistence agriculture. The livestock sector also includes wool, egg and dairy production, the livestock used for tillage, and fish farming.
This is a glossary of environmental science.
This page is an index of sustainability articles.
A water footprint shows the extent of water use in relation to consumption by people. The water footprint of an individual, community, or business is defined as the total volume of fresh water used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual or community or produced by the business. Water use is measured in water volume consumed (evaporated) and/or polluted per unit of time. A water footprint can be calculated for any well-defined group of consumers or producers, for a single process or for any product or service.
There are various social, economic, environmental and technical issues with biofuel production and use, which have been discussed in the popular media and scientific journals. These include: the effect of moderating oil prices, the "food vs fuel" debate, poverty reduction potential, carbon emissions levels, sustainable biofuel production, deforestation and soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, effect on water resources, the possible modifications necessary to run the engine on biofuel, as well as energy balance and efficiency. The International Resource Panel, which provides independent scientific assessments and expert advice on a variety of resource-related themes, assessed the issues relating to biofuel use in its first report Towards sustainable production and use of resources: Assessing Biofuels. In it, it outlined the wider and interrelated factors that need to be considered when deciding on the relative merits of pursuing one biofuel over another. It concluded that not all biofuels perform equally in terms of their effect on climate, energy security and ecosystems, and suggested that environmental and social effects need to be assessed throughout the entire life-cycle.
Farm water, also known as agricultural water, is water committed for use in the production of food and fibre and collecting for further resources. In the US, some 80% of the fresh water withdrawn from rivers and groundwater is used to produce food and other agricultural products. Farm water may include water used in the irrigation of crops or the watering of livestock. Its study is called agricultural hydrology.
The environmental impact of agriculture is the effect that different farming practices have on the ecosystems around them, and how those effects can be traced back to those practices. The environmental impact of agriculture varies widely based on practices employed by farmers and by the scale of practice. Farming communities that try to reduce environmental impacts through modifying their practices will adopt sustainable agriculture practices. The negative impact of agriculture is an old issue that remains a concern even as experts design innovative means to reduce destruction and enhance eco-efficiency. Though some pastoralism is environmentally positive, modern animal agriculture practices tend to be more environmentally destructive than agricultural practices focused on fruits, vegetables and other biomass. The emissions of ammonia from cattle waste continue to raise concerns over environmental pollution.
Water scarcity in Africa is predicted to reach dangerously high levels by 2025 when it is estimated that about two-thirds of the world's population may suffer from fresh water shortage. The main causes of water scarcity in Africa are physical and economic scarcity, rapid population growth, and climate change. Water scarcity is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. Although Sub-Saharan Africa has a plentiful supply of rainwater, it is seasonal and unevenly distributed, leading to frequent floods and droughts. Additionally, prevalent economic development and poverty issues, compounded with rapid population growth and rural-urban migration have rendered Sub-Saharan Africa as the world's poorest and least developed region.
Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Consumption and Production: Priority Products and Materials is a scientific assessment published in 2010 by the International Resource Panel (IRP) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The report assessed the environmental impact of several activities, including food production.
Rainfed agriculture is a type of farming that relies on rainfall for water. It provides much of the food consumed by poor communities in developing countries. E.g., rainfed agriculture accounts for more than 95% of farmed land in sub-Saharan Africa, 90% in Latin America, 75% in the Near East and North Africa, 65% in East Asia, and 60% in South Asia.
Water, Land and Ecosystems is one of several new research programmes approved by the CGIAR during 2011 after an extensive period of consultation that began in 2009. This research programme will draw on the resources of 14 CGIAR and numerous external partners to provide a more integrated approach to research into managing natural resources. The aim of the research programme is to increase agricultural productivity while protecting the environment, so food security is ensured for most of humanity and that poverty becomes history. The five main strands to the programme are: River basins; Irrigation systems; Information systems; Resource reuse and recovery; and Rainfed agriculture systems.
The water, energy and food security nexus according to the Food And Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), means that water security, energy security and food security are very much linked to one another, meaning that the actions in any one particular area often can have effects in one or both of the other areas.
Agricultural expansion describes the growth of agricultural land especially in the 20th and 21st centuries.
The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Special Report on Climate Change and Land (SRCCL), also known as the "Special Report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems", is a landmark study from 2019 by 107 experts from 52 countries. The SRCCL provides a comprehensive overview of the entire land-climate system for the first time and decided to enlist land as a "critical resource". The IPCC's 50th session (IPCC-50) formally adopted the SRCCL's Summary for policymakers (SPM) and approved the underlying report. The SPM and the full text of Special Report on Climate Change and Land—in an unedited form—were released on 8 August 2019. The report is over 1,300 pages long and includes the work of 107 experts from 52 countries.