One-quarter of the world’s crops, from bananas and plantains to rice, wheat, corn, and soybeans, are grown in areas where the water supply is highly stressed or highly variable, said the World Resources Institute on Wednesday. Rice, wheat, and corn, three of the most important crops, are particularly vulnerable, it said.
In an analysis, the WRI said that 60 percent of irrigated crops are grown in areas facing high or extremely high levels of water stress and that 8 percent of rain-fed crops are subject to high or extremely high variations in water supply. The environmental think tank considers water stress high if 40 percent or more of the local water supply is tapped for agriculture, industry, power generation, and households. Irrigated crops provide 34 percent of the world’s agricultural output and rain-fed crops provide 60 percent.
“The problem with growing crops in both highly stressed and highly variable areas is that there isn’t much of a supply buffer to weather shocks such as prolonged droughts,” said the analysis. “While farmers have adapted to a certain level of variability in the water they can use, increased water competition and climate change are stretching available supplies to the limit.”
An array of strategies are available to sustainably manage water supplies, said the WRI. They include reducing food waste, making more efficient agricultural use of water, and adopting “nature-based” solutions for water security. “Choosing less water-intensive foods can substantially decrease water stress,” it said under the heading “Shift high-meat diets toward less water-intensive foods.”
Another WRI recommendation was to “avoid dedicating land to bioenergy.”