Abstract
The present water policy debate is dominated by the 30 yr old mission to secure water supply and sanitation to all people. The water needed to produce a nutritionally acceptable diet for one person is however 70 times as large as the amount needed for domestic water supply. The food security dilemma is largest in arid climate regions, a situation constituting a formidable challenge. It is suggested that an additional 5 600 km3/yr of consumptive water use will be needed to produce an adequate amount of food by 2050 – i.e almost a doubling of today’s consumptive use of 6800 km3/yr. Past misinterpretations and conceptual deficiencies show the importance of a shift in thinking. Combining the scale of the challenge and the time scale of the efforts to feed humanity and eradicate hunger leads to an impression of great urgency. This urgency strengthens the call for international research both for supporting agricultural upgrading, and for much better handling of issues of environmental sustainability. What stands out is the need of a new generation of water professionals, able to handle complexity and able to incorporate water implications of land use and of ecosystem health in integrated water resources management. It will for those reasons be essential and urgent to upgrade the educational system to producing this new generation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arrow K et al. (1995) Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment. Science 268:520–521
Conway G (1997) The doubly green revolution. Food for all in the twenty-first century. Penguin Books, USA, p 334
Duda AM (2003) Integrated management of land and water resources based on collective approach to fragmented international conventions. Philosophical Transactions Royal Society London B 358:2051–2062
Falkenmark M (2003) Freshwater as shared between society and ecosystems: from divided approaches to integrated challenges. Philosophical Transactions Royal Society London B 358:2037–2049
Falkenmark M (2005) Water usability degradation – Economist wisdom or societal madness? Water International 30:136–146
Falkenmark M, Lindh G (1976) Water for a starving world. WestView Press, Boulder, Colorado, p. 201
Falkenmark M, Chapman T (eds) (1989) Comparative Hydrology – An ecological approach to land and water resources. Unesco, Paris, France, p 475
Falkenmark M, Rockström J (2004) Balancing water for humans and nature. The new approach in ecohydrology. Earthscan, London
Falkenmark M, Lannerstad (2005) Consumptive water use to feed humanity – Curing a blindspot. Hydrology and Earth Sciences, 15–18
FAO (2000) New dimensions in water security. In: Lundqvist J (ed) AGL/MISC/25/2000. FAO Rome
FAO (2003) World Agriculture: towards 2015/2030. In: Bruisma J (ed) Earthscan, London
Foster SSD, Chilton PJ (2003) Groundwater: the processes and global significance of aquifer degradation. Philosophical Transactions, Royal Society London B 358:1957–1972
Gleick P (1996) Basic water requirements for human activities. Meeting basic needs. Water International 21:83–92
Gleick P (2000) The World's Water 2000–2001. The biennial report on freshwater resources. Island Press, USA
Gordon L, Dunlop M, Foran B (2003) Land cover change and water vapour flows: learning from Australia. Philosophical Transactions, Royal Society London B 358:1973–1984
GWP (2003) Water management and ecosystems. Living with change. TEC Background Report No.9. Global Water Partnership, Stockholm
Hekstra GP (1995) Delayed effects of pollutants in soils and sediments: understanding and handling of chemical time bombs in Europe. Ecoscript 56. Stichtung Mondiaal Alternatiet,Amsterdam
Jacks G (2004) Personal communication. Professor Gunnar Jacks, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
Lannerstad M (2001) Consumptive water use feeds the world and makes rivers run dry. MSc thesis, TRITA-LWR 02-13, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm
Lvovich MI (1979) World water resources and their future, (Translation by the American Geophysical Union). LithoCrafters Inc., Chelsea, Michigan
Millstone E, Lang T (2003) The atlas of food. Who eats what, where and why. Earthscan, London
Moench M, Burke J, Moench Y (2003) Rethinking the approach to groundwater and food security. FAO Water Report 24, FAO, Rome
Oki T, Kanae S (2004) Virtual water trade and world water resources. In: Drainage basin security – Balancing production, trade and water use. Stockholm Water Symposium 2003. Water Science and Technology 49:203–209
Pielou EC (1998) Fresh water. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Rockström J (2001) Green water security for the food makers of tomorrow: windows of oppportunity in drought-prone savannahs. In: Water security for the 21st century – Innovative approaches. Stockholm Water Symposium 2000. Water Science and Technology 43:71–78
Rockström J, Rouw de A (1997) Water, nutrients, and slope position in on-farm pearl millet cultivation in the Sahel. Plant and Soil 195:311–327
Rockström J (2003) Water for food and nature in drought-pronme tropics: vapour shift in rainfed agriculture. Philosophical Transactions, Royal Society London B 358:1997–2010
Rockström J, Gordon L, Falkenmark M, Folke C, Engwall M (1999) Humanity's dependence on water vapour flows for terestrial ecosystem services and food production. Conservation Ecology 3:5. On line.http://www.consecol.org/vol3/iss2/art5
Rockström J, Barron J (2004) Water productivity in rainfed systems: Overview of challenges and analysis of opportunities in water scarcity prone savannas. Special issue. Irrigation Science(forthcoming)
Rockström J, Falkenmark M (2000) Semi-arid crop production from a hydrological perspective – Gap between potential and actual yields. Critical Rev Plant Sc 19:319–346
Rosegrant MW, Cai SA, Cline Nakagawa N (2002)The Role of Rainfed Agriculture in the Future of Global Food Production. Environment and Production. Technology Division Discussion Paper No. 90. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC
Rosegrant MV, Cai X, Cline SA (2002) World water and food by 2025. IFPRI, Washington, DC
Scanlon J (2004) Negotiating tradeoffs between competing water claims – the critical role of ‘environmental flows’ in basin management. In: Drainage basin mangement – Regional approaches for food and urban security. Stockholm Water Symposium 16–20 August, 2004, Abstract volume. Stockholm International Water Institute, Stockholm, pp 235–236
Shah T, Roy AD, Qurershi AS, Wang J (2003) Sustaining Asia's groundwater boom: an overview of issues and evidence. Natural Resources Forum 27:130–141
Shiklomanov IA (2000) Appraisal and assessment of world water resources. Water International 25:11–32
SIWI, IWMI, IFPRI, IUCN (2005) Let it reign: the new water paradigm for global food security. Final Report to CSD 13. Stockholm International Water Institute, Stockholm
Smakthin V, Revenga C, Döll P (2004) Taking into account environmental water requirements in global-scale water resources assessments. Comprehensive Assessment Research. Report 2. IWMI, Colombo, SriLanka
Tilman D, Fargione J, Wolff B, D'Antonmio C, Dobson A, Howarth R, Schindler D, Schlesinger WH, Simberloff D, Swackhamer D (2001) Forecasting agriculturally driven global environmental change. Science 292:281–284
Vogel WR, Grath J (1998) Groundwater in Europe – State and trends in quality and quantity. In: Hilding-Rydevik T, Johansson I (eds) How to cope with degrading groundwater quality in Europe. Swedish Council for Planning and Coordination of Research. Stockholm, FRN-Report 98:4
WWAP (2005) Currents – news from the World Water Assessment Programme. Issue no 13, February 2005
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Falkenmark, M. Shift in thinking to address the 21st century hunger gap. Water Resour Manage 21, 3–18 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-006-9037-z
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-006-9037-z