Water scarcity affects food security

Water will be a key element in the pursuit of food security of the world in the next century. Researches show an alarming trend that sources of water for human consumption have increasingly become less accessible to poorer segments of the world population in recent years.

Although there are no conclusive findings yet indicating a severe water scarcity hitting the Philippines after weathering the El Nino phenomenon since the early 80s, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is currently making the rounds the country as part of its efforts to undertake policies that would ensure local food security.

In an IFPRI paper, it was learned that researchers are investigating the macroeconomic policies influencing water prices, legislation and regulations affecting water, market-based instruments of policy and fiscal incentives for investments in water conservation and pollution control devices.

The IFPRI researchers plan to undertake a study to evaluate the effects of regulations, water prices, water quality in river basins and pollution changes on water demands.

IFPRI collaborators on this project include the National Irrigation Administration University of the Philippines-Diliman , Department of Agriculture and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

In a policy brief which discusses the institute’s relevant plans in the country, the IFPRI notes that although total global water supplies are adequate to meet demand for the foreseeable future, "water is poorly distributed across countries, within countries and between seasons." It predicts that would demand for water will continue to grow rapidly in the net few years, including in the country CGIAR researchers estimate that agriculture consumes 70 percent of the freshwater withdrawn annually by humans.

Policy Research

IFPRI researchers in the Philippines are also involved in researches on small-scale livestock growers, as well as on the effect on Philippine agriculture of the recent round of World Trade Organization’s (WTO) trade negotiations. IFPRI’s research predicts that world trade in agriculture goods will become more important in the next century.

The IFPRI also plans to go to Southern Mindanao next year to reevaluate a research it conducted two decades ago on the production, consumption and nutrition effects of agricultural commercialization in several countries, including the Philippines. The study was conducted to assess the impact of the decline in maize production on malnutrition. The study found out that a substantial number of households were "losers" in the process of agricultural commercialization in Mindanao.

The IFPRI also co-hosted with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in 1999 a conference in the country on the applications of biotechnology in improving the nutritional quality of rice.

Like the IFPRI, IRRI and the IWMI are part of the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research’s (CGIAR) "Future Harvest Centers," a consortium of 16 international research institutions involved in agriculture research in 22 developing and 21 industrialized countries.

The CGIAR is a strategic alliance of investors, international research institutes known at "future harvest centers," and hundreds of partner organizations, including government agencies, which mobilize science to benefit poor farmer’s and people.

These "future harvest center" of CGIAR) according to a CGIAR profile, aim to generate knowledge to help increase food production, improve health and preserve biodiversity and natural resources worldwide .