FOCUS: Supporting choices on water use for food production

In a large number of countries, more groundwater is used for food production than can be replenished from natural sources. Increasingly deeper wells are sunk in order to be self-sufficient; this cannot continue indefinitely. In countries where water is scarce, such as Yemen, it would be much more logical to import food or to move the cultivation of crops that require large amounts of water to water-rich regions, such as Eastern Africa, Brazil, or Northern Australia. China is already buying up immense tracts of land in Africa for large-scale agriculture. This course of action has come in for a great deal of criticism, especially because of the way in which it is taking place. However, the utilisation of the agricultural potential of water-rich regions needs to be vastly improved and crop yields increased in order to feed the world.

The scarcity of fresh water in many places in the world is largely attributable to the fact that, during the last century, large-scale irrigation systems were constructed precisely in regions with low precipitation. These systems depend greatly on the supply of huge quantities of water from other places. In a situation of water scarcity, it makes sense to consider reallocation. One way of reducing water use is to move large-scale agriculture from arid regions and seasons with permanent irrigation to regions and seasons with supplementary irrigation in which the main proportion of a crop's water requirement comes from direct precipitation. Water redistribution is a process of political negotiation.

Economic analyses can support and make this type of choice more transparent. For instance, what would we lose in terms of food production if we were to make more water available for nature? LEI also advises on investments in water management, such as supplementary irrigation systems, and the choice of the type of water allocation mechanism, for instance flexible and dependable water-usage rights.

Relocating food production to places where the main proportion of a crop's water requirements is met by direct rainfall will, however, make countries dependent on each other. This means that international cooperation is a crucial aspect of global food security. Cooperation in water management is also the theme of World Water Day 2013, which will be hosted by the Netherlands on 22 March.