Alain Vidal, the director of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Foodthe CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food gave an inspiring talk at the Rome Share Fair this week.

The challenges:

We all know the equation seems impossible: in order to feed 9.5 billion people by 2050, we need to produce 70-100% more food than today. This is not only an issue of adapted crops, research on new seeds varieties or fertilizers. It is also, and in some areas in the world, it is MAINLY, an issue of “water”:  Will we have enough fresh water to sustain the agricultural growth needed to feed those 9.5 billion people?

The Answer is “Yes”!

We just published the conclusions of an exhaustive study on 10 river basins: the Andes and São Francisco in South America; the Limpopo, Niger, Nile and Volta basins in Africa; and the Ganges, Indus, Karkheh, Mekong, and Yellow in Asia.

These basins cover 13.5 million square kilometers and are home to some 1.5 billion people, and half of the world’s poorest.

The conclusions of this report are just amazing: water scarcity is NOT affecting our ability to grow enough food today and tomorrow. The overall challenge is to make efficient and fair use of the water available. And this, ultimately, makes it an institutional and political challenge, not a resource concern.

Water: a multi-purpose resource

Through our research, we found that river basins support development through a diversity of ecosystem services; water is used for domestic or industrial supply, irrigation, hydropower, but also food…It is the mixture of ecosystem services that is often overlooked, the mixture on which our future well-being depends. The poorest are often those who depend most on the ‘softer’ services, such as fish or livestock.

Demands on water for more food and energy can be sustained, but only through a balanced approach to ensure that development of one part of the river basin system does not damage functions that are essential to others.

There are excellent examples of a good approach: For instance how parties involved in Mekong hydropower development sit with those involved in using the same water resources for fisheries and irrigation. Another example is the shared management of water resources for livestock and agriculture in the Sahel.

Under-exploited opportunities

As contradictory as it may seem, rainfed cropping is still under-utilized in almost all areas of the world. Researchers found that in Africa, where the vast majority of cropland is rainfed, still only about four percent of available water is captured for crops and livestock, showing the big potential for future growth.

An example of a good practice is the use of “zai” pits in the drylands of West Africa, where run-off surface water is caught in small pits filled with a mixture of manure and seeds, covered with leaves.

Water: in need of a coherent management approach

Our most surprising finding is that despite all of the pressures facing large river basins of the developing world today, there are relatively straightforward opportunities to satisfy our development needs and alleviate poverty for millions of people without exhausting our most precious natural resource.

But success is not guaranteed, there is still a lot to change. In most areas there is a complete fragmentation of how river basins are managed amongst different actors and even countries, where the water needs of different sectors – agriculture, industry, environment and mining – are considered separately rather than as interrelated and interdependent. In many cases, we need a complete rethink of how government ministries take advantage of the range of benefits coming from river basins, rather than focusing on one sector such as hydropower, irrigation or industry.

Are we ready to foster and to accompany this revolution?

Check out the pictures and the podcast recording from Alain’s talk.

Reporting by Peter Casier. Learn more at: http://blogtips.org.