Coping with Water Scarcity in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon - GCP/INT/124/ITA

Modern agriculture uses 70 percent of all freshwater withdrawals globally, and up to 95 percent in some developing countries, in order to meet current food demand. In addition, to keep up with growing food demand and shifting diets within the next 30 years, it has been estimated that the effective irrigated area will need to increase by 34 percent in developing countries, and that an extra 14 percent of water will need to be withdrawn for agricultural purposes. In arid and semi-arid regions, increasing numbers of the rural poor have begun to see that entitlement and access to water for food production, livestock and domestic purposes are as critical as access to primary health care and education, while at the same time reverting to a massive use of groundwater resources for irrigation. The current project followed two previous phases of a programme aimed at assisting the agriculture sector to cope with water scarcity and was designed to strengthen national capacities in this sector in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.

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Bibliographic Details
Format: Project biblioteca
Language:English
Published: FAO ; 2020
Online Access:https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/CA8088EN
http://www.fao.org/3/ca8088en/ca8088en.pdf
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Summary:Modern agriculture uses 70 percent of all freshwater withdrawals globally, and up to 95 percent in some developing countries, in order to meet current food demand. In addition, to keep up with growing food demand and shifting diets within the next 30 years, it has been estimated that the effective irrigated area will need to increase by 34 percent in developing countries, and that an extra 14 percent of water will need to be withdrawn for agricultural purposes. In arid and semi-arid regions, increasing numbers of the rural poor have begun to see that entitlement and access to water for food production, livestock and domestic purposes are as critical as access to primary health care and education, while at the same time reverting to a massive use of groundwater resources for irrigation. The current project followed two previous phases of a programme aimed at assisting the agriculture sector to cope with water scarcity and was designed to strengthen national capacities in this sector in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.