Water and Urbanisation

The world is rapidly becoming urbanized and wealthier...this may not be starkly visible during a recession but it is invariably true. We need more to "survive", our lives are getting easier and what we consider to be the norm (or what we consider to be poor is radically different to just 10 years ago). Let's look at food as a stark example of this. There is an increase in demand for what would have once been considered luxury products – milk, meat, fruits and vegetables – that are heavily reliant on irrigation in many parts of the world. But we consider these (At least in the global north) as being basic necessities. They are no longer considered luxuries. We no longer consume as many staple carbohydrates. Instead our patterns of consumption and production have radically changed.

You may have never thought about it but the production efficiency of land for animal products is lower than for crops. Its logical when you think about it. Our planets population is growing, we are eating more animal products that take up more land and produce less food. Therefore, we need to use more land to produce the food, we need to use more water and we need to work harder to create the food we need. But it is a signal of the society that I live in that I also have not become a vegetarian. I logically know that the planet cannot support my lifestyle yet the changes that I am willing to make are too small to make an impact. Like my peers, I need a dramatic kick to make changes. But when will it be too late?

Climate change --we are all told and if we have any sense can see--will significantly impact agriculture by increasing water demand, limiting crop productivity and by reducing water availability in areas where irrigation is most needed or has comparative advantage. While part of me thinks that we could just do what Israel does and use the oceans...I know (on a deeper level) that its not a long term solution. Since secondary school, I have known that the hydrological cycle is expected to accelerate as rising temperatures increase the rate of evaporation from land and sea. This coupled with decreasing natural resources, energy scarcity and eventually a water scarcity should be enough to scare me into changing radically. But why isn't it?

Major Group of Children and Youth (MGCY)

I got involved with the MGCY accidentally in 2010 but I have really engaged since then. After the UNCSD-18, I was asked to facilitate the policy paper. This snowballed into thematic teams, 133 organisations / groups involved and a beautiful 1000 word document that was the basis for our lobbying during CSD-19. I was policy advocacy coordinator during CSD-19. This isn't as scary as it sounds...basically, I was sleep deprived and kept track of what happened. I am now the Objectives Focal point for Rio+20 and I am starting to realise that once more...I have no idea where to start but I know that it will be amazing in the end.

Watch us during UN CSD-19 discuss youth participation, lessons learnt and Rio+20

World Water Day in 2012

It is impossible to deny the symbiotic relationship between water and food security.  “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” and water is one of the fundamental input factor to the food production. However, it is imperative that we not forget that water is vital to communities. It is more important than food production for the sake of producing more food. That last sentence makes little sense without an example...so if you have the option of producing more food by diverting a river...is it worth diverting the river when hunger is a rising concern in the developing world? Personally, I think it isn't worth it. A lot of local communities rely on that water to survive. Ecosystems function around that water and they use that water to plant the basics they need to survive...diverting a river is a short term solution that causes much greater problems.

Unsurprisingly, Food security has been raising the international political agenda following the peak prices of 2008 and the financial crisis of 2009. If you couple this with logical concerns (or public planning) then  future population growth, urbanization, changing diets, development pressure on land and water (including resources  allocated to  biofuel production) and energy cost increase are all contributing to a progressive and severe water scarcity that will in turn undermine the food security. If you look at drought as an example of this...water scarcity definitely is coupled with food security. And Israel has a lot of lessons that we should be using. They have used innovative irrigation methods to turn a land that was hostile desert and turned it into a food producing nation. Water is the crisis of our future and the developed world needs to look at the example offered by Singapore where they create new water from waste water (and end up only using 30% of it for their needs). There are solutions. It is time to implement them.