Water Scarcity: The Food Factor

Food and environmental communities joined efforts to produce the assessment, which was jointly sponsored by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, the Convention on Biological Diver- sity, the Consultative Group on Agricultural Research, and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Donor agencies and international institutions have advocated a host of panaceas - water pricing, water markets, farmer management of irrigation systems, drip irrigation-using blueprint solutions, donor funds, and leverage to hasten reforms. Here are some possibilities: * All of us should think about the water implications of the food we eat - and waste. * Consumers and the private sector should be prepared to pay the environmental costs of food production. * Politicians and trade negotiators should consider the water implications of trade and energy use and pay the water costs. * Governments should fund the development of water for food. * City dwellers should compensate farming communities for water that is taken away from them. * Governments should set up mechanisms for negotiating water disputes. * Governments, civil society, and the private sector should spend time and money to empower poorer water users to compete equally with wealthier ones.