Water shortages will reduce food production. This is because to produce food we need water and lots of it. As the population increases we will need much more water to increase yield but there will in fact be much less available for farming.
Peakfood has previously discussed the effect of climate change on snowmelt and river flow causing reduced amounts of water available for irrigation at the correct time of year. There is also the disasterous decline in the amount of water that can be taken from the great aquifers that have allowed massive dry land areas to become highly productive.
Just as important is the increasing competition for water from cities. Throughout the developing world there is a massive migration from rural areas to cities, and cities need massive amounts of water for the nutritional and hygienal requirements of the people, and for the industry that supports the people. In this competition the cities are winning. It can take up to 1,000 tonnes of water to produce 1 tonne of wheat but in industry that amount of water can produce goods of much greater value.
The other competition for water is taking place between countries. Many great rivers run through several countries and each country wants to extract more and more water. Egypt is an example of a country facing a disaster. With almost no natural rainfall, Egypt has always depended on rain falling in other countries which then flows down the Nile, but now Sudan and Ethiopia are taking more and more water for their rapidly growing populations. Unbelievably, it is estimated that within 20 years the Nile will be dry before it reaches Egypt, leaving that country dependent on imported food at a time when there may be none available.
Water is just one of the resources that will decline per capita of world population, and that will cause the amount of food available per capita to decline also.
Is this something that concerns you?
