Water for Food, Water for Ecosystems Both Essential

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, January 31, 2005 (ENS) - With more than 850 million people around the world living with chronic hunger and undernourishment, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today called for huge financial investments in water, agriculture and ecosystems to meet the goal of halving the number of hungry people by 2015.

At the opening of the International Conference on Water for Food and Ecosystems in The Hague, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Deputy Director-General David Harcharik said investments in rainfed and irrigated agriculture are urgently needed "to produce more crop per drop" in countries suffering from hunger and malnutrition.

An abundant supply of water is pumped from an artesian well to irrigate the fields in Gujranwala, Pakistan. (Photo by G. Bizzarri courtesy FAO) )

"Water, food and ecosystems are three aspects of our global wellbeing that are so tightly bound that they have become critical for livelihoods, sustainable development and for political stability," Harcharik said. "These aspects deserve more attention than we currently devote to their description and understanding."

Investments in raising water productivity for staple foods or high value market crops should not irreparably degrade precious water resources and related ecosystems, he said in a keynote speech delivered on behalf of FAO Director-General Dr. Jacques Diouf.

The prime objective of the Water for Food and Ecosystems Conference is to help governments identify management practices and the necessary enabling environments that lead to sustainable water use at the river basin level, and the harmonization of food production and ecosystem management.

FAO Deputy Director-General David Harcharik of the United States has a background in forest administration with the FAO and the U.S. Forest Service. (Photo courtesy Earth Negotiations Bulletin) )

"Reconciling these competing claims on our natural resource heritage and achieving a balance between natural ecosystem and agricultural production within our river basins will be critical."

Humans have altered the carrying capacity of ecosystems through increased food production and other sectoral outputs, often neglecting the supply of goods of equal importance - clean water, timber, biodiversity or flood control.

The challenge demands all the talent and energy that humans can muster. Now approaching 6.5 billion people, the world population is expected to reach nine billion people by 2050. Food demand is expected to more than double in a similar time frame.

Some 30 percent of irrigated lands are already degraded, and water use is expected to increase by 50 percent over the next 30 years. Science based solutions for sustaining productivity increases while protecting ecosystems are key to addressing these challenges

In the urgency of providing food and water for those in need, care must still be taken with genetically modified crops to ensure their safety, said a consultation of experts convened by the FAO last week in Rome.

The consultation was organized in the light of the controversy and public concern over genetic modifications (GM), the FAO said.

FAO asked a group of agricultural scientists from many parts of the world to provide clear preliminary guidelines on the most accurate and scientifically sound approach to monitoring the environmental effects of existing GM crops.

"FAO's aim is to provide a tool to assist countries in making their own informed choices on the matter, as well as protect the productivity and ecological integrity of farming systems" said Louise Fresco, FAO assistant director-general of the Agriculture Department.

"The need to monitor both the benefits and potential hazards of released GM crops to the environment is becoming ever more important with the dramatic increase in the range and scale of their commercial cultivation, especially in developing countries," Fresco said.

Scientists at the U.S. Agriculture Department Agricultural Research Service University of California Plant Gene Expression Center are the first in the world to report success in genetically engineering barley. It carries a gene that may help the plants resist attack by barley yellow dwarf virus. (Photo by Jack Dykinga courtesy USDA) )

Environmental goals include the maintenance and protection of basic natural resources such as soil, water and biodiversity, they said.

The scientists view monitoring as the key element in generating the necessary knowledge to protect agro-systems, rural livelihoods and the broader ecological integrity.

Environmental organizations, farmers' groups and community organizations should be actively and continuously engaged in this process, the workshop agreed, as they are "absolutely intrinsic" to the system.

FAO officials offered to facilitate this process along with other agencies and national and international research centres, encouraging the adoption of rigorously designed monitoring programs.

Besides FAO and the United Nations Environment Programme, the CGIAR Centers are expected to play an important role in partnership with national research centers.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is an alliance of countries, international and regional organizations, and private foundations supporting 15 international agricultural centers, that work with national agricultural research systems and civil society organizations including the private sector.

CGIAR scientists work on genetic modification as well as many other techniques such as integrated pest management and biological control methods for dealing with pests, and zero or low-till farming practices in Africa and Asia, minimizing soil erosion and boosting farm incomes and productivity.

Potential hazards associated with GM cropping, according to the scientists at their workshop in Rome last week, all must be placed within the broader context of both positive and negative impacts that are associated with all agricultural practices.