FAO warns of water shortage in developing countries

MANILA, Philippines -  One out of five developing countries, including the Philippines, will face serious water scarcity and consequently food shortages by 2030, if nothing is done to save global resources, according to a study conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).

“Water is a life sustaining gift God has given to us. It is a source not only of food security but also of life itself. Globally at present, there is enough water. But by 2030, it may become scarce,” the FAO report said.

The FAO study on 93 developing countries shows that some water-scarce nations are using water faster than the resource can be replenished.

Jesus  Tanchanco, former administrator of the National Food Authority (NFA), said there is no substitution for water to support man’s life  systems. “When the last drop of safe and potable water trickles down into oblivion, life on earth ends,” he said, as he underscored the importance of water – its demand for agriculture, for domestic use and for the ever-expanding industries worldwide.

He said that while water covers a big chunk of the earth’s surface, most of it is seawater.

 Of the freshwater used by man, at least 70 percent goes to agriculture,” he said.

Tanchanco, who was also former food minister, said that in the coming years, “we can expect more and more freshwater to be withdrawn for irrigation as world food production rises to feed a ballooning population.”

Aggravating this condition, he said, is the increasing competition between water demand for agriculture in the rural areas and water for domestic use in burgeoning metropolis.”

Another factor, according to him, is the large amount of water used for the ever-expanding industries worldwide.

Tanchanco said that in the Philippines alone, millions of Filipinos still have no access to safe water. Of the country’s 3.1 million hectares of irrigable land, only about 1.5 million hectares or nearly half of the country’s rice fields still depend on the weather for irrigation.

According to a research study, water scarcity “is already a  critical constraint to farming in many parts of the world.”

It said: “Fifty years ago, the common perception was that water was an infinite resource. At that time, there were fewer than half the current  number of people on the planet.

“Today, the competition for water resources is much more intense. This is because there are now more than seven billion people on the planet. There is today an increasing competition for water from industry, urbanization and agriculture. To avoid a global water crisis, farmers have to strive to increase productivity to meet the growing demand for food, while industry and cities find ways to use water more effectively.”