Water scarcity in some regions of the world jeopardizes food production, which must increase by 60% to meet demand with an estimated 9.000 million people in 2050, according to the UN Organization for Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). EFE
The Deputy Director General of the FAO, Maria Helena Semedo, said today at a ceremony at the headquarters of the agency that sustainable use of resources is needed to ensure food availability in the future.
Existing land and water resources should be sufficient to feed the planet, but its distribution is very uneven and some regions suffer shortages, according Semedo, citing areas where water and soil resources are overexploited or degraded as East Asia, the Middle East or North Africa.
The growing competition between sectors that use water, such as agriculture and construction, added to other factors such as migration from the countryside to the cities, increasing the pressure on natural resources, said the responsible.
Additionally, he said, water availability was impacted by climate change, which has led in some regions more droughts and floods register.
FAO warned that different rivers and lakes are drying up, such as the Aral Sea or Lake Chad, while land grabbing and expansion of intensive agriculture are worsening the situation of some local populations.
Also, experts of the organization highlighted the impact that the shortage of water resources has on biodiversity and degradation of soils, and stressed the need to manage financial resources to help those most vulnerable.