Water Scarcity: The Role of Agriculture

Water use has been growing globally at more than twice the rate ofpopulation increase in the last century, and an increasing number of regionsare reaching the limit at which reliable water services can be delivered.Essentially, demographic growth, rapidly growing urban areas and economicdevelopment are putting unprecedented pressure on water, especially in aridregions. FAO, with the contribution of the Italian Cooperation, is going todevelop an integrated package of technical and policy assistance guides toprovide countries with a comprehensive methodology for assessing,analyzing and reporting on the use of scarce water resources. Coping withwater scarcity - the role of agriculture provide a detailed assessment ofagricultural water use, including its productivity, its value-in-use, and itsefficiency during the water use process, gave the countries handles to adapttheir water policy and improve their water management in the future throughstrategic interventions to increase their capacity to cope with water scarcity.The project is organized in three phases: the first, the comprehensiveframework is to provide decision- and policy-making bodies with approachesand principles and a general framework upon which to formulatedevelopment strategies and monitor their implementation. Phase two focuseson "the development of national water audits" and will offer a double result:on the supply side, the audit will provide information about water availability;on the demand side, it will give a detailed picture on how the water is used,for which purpose, and with which value. Phase three will deal withstrengthening countries' national capacities to cope with water scarcity.