The aim of this paper is to provide policy-makers with a helpful overview of the technical and economic aspects of water use in agriculture, with particular emphasis on crop and livestock production. Through 2050, in many countries, agriculture will remain an important determinant of economic growth, poverty reduction, and food security, even as, over time, the proportion of agricultural revenue in national gross income declines. Water use in agriculture will remain substantial, irrigated areas will expand and competition for water will increase in all sectors. Most likely, overall supplies of land and water will be sufficient to achieve global food production goals in 2050; although poverty and food insecurity will remain pressing challenges in several regions and countries. Thus, the focus of this report is on the regional and national aspects of food security.

Water scarcity is already a reality. More food will be required for a growing and wealthier and urbanized population that will put more pressure on water resources. With several water-related limits reached or breached - groundwater decline, shrinking rivers and threatened fisheries - we must ask, Will there be enough water to grow enough food? It is possible to produce the food needed, but if present practices continue it is not probable that we will solve the many poverty and environmental challenges confronting us. To share a scarce resource and to limit environmental damage in the face of climate change, it is imperative to limit future water use. Important pathways to growing enough food with limited water are to increase productivity of water in irrigated and rainfed areas, improve water management in low-yielding rainfed areas, and to consider our own food consumption patterns. In pockets of poverty in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, expanding access to water through a range of water management solutions holds the key to food security and poverty reduction. For sustainable water use, water managers must consider agriculture as an ecosystem and how other ecosystem services are impacted through water. These actions will require serious changes in how we think about water and food, and how we govern water and land resources.

Access to sufficient and clean freshwater is essential for all life. Water is also essential for the functioning of food systems: as a key input into food production, but also in processing and preparation, and as a food itself. Water scarcity and pollution are growing, affecting poorer populations most, and particularly food producers. Malnutrition levels are also on the rise, and this is closely linked to water scarcity. The achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2 and 6 are co-dependent. Solutions for jointly improving food systems and water security outcomes include: (1) strengthening efforts to retain water-based ecosystems and their functions; (2) improving agricultural water management for better diets for all; (3) reducing water and food losses beyond the farmgate; (4) coordinating water with nutrition and health interventions; (5) increasing the environmental sustainability of food systems; (6) explicitly addressing social inequities in water-nutrition linkages; and (7) improving data quality and monitoring for water-food system linkages, drawing on innovations in information and communications technology (ICT). Climate change and other environmental and societal changes make the implementation and scaling of solutions more urgent than ever. | Non-PR | 1 Fostering Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food Supply; IFPRI4; DCA | Natural Resources and Resilience (NRR); Transformation Strategies

Water, energy, and agriculture have been conventionally dealt with separately in investment planning. For each of these sectors, regulatory frameworks, organizations, and infrastructures have been put in place to address sector-specific challenges and demands. As the Middle East and North Africa works towards building a more sustainable future, a nexus approach that considers the risks and synergies among these sectors is needed. To demonstrate the added value of a nexus approach, this report applies scenario analysis and integrated assessment modelling of the water-energy-food nexus to the Middle East and North Africa. The analysis finds that water scarcity increases in all countries in the region over the coming decades, mostly due to growing demands. More importantly, the analysis finds that many countries in the region could run out of fossil groundwater by 2050 unless measures to curb unsustainable abstraction are implemented. The impacts of growing scarcity on agriculture are significant, with production projected to drop by 60 percent by 2050 in some countries. On the upside, reducing the dependence of the agricultural and energy sectors on water and transitioning to renewable energies can reduce water scarcity, at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Agricultural water demand management is at the core of the "water for food programme" launched as a result of a pledge by the Netherlands' Minister for agriculture at the 2nd world water forum. This article highlights the contribution of Wageningen URwithin the concept

PR | IFPRI3; CRP5; ISI | EPTD | CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE)

CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) | Bhaduri Anik et al., 'Sustainability in the water–energy–food nexus', Water International 40, IFPRI, 2015