Water Use for Food
With agriculture being responsible for 70% of the global water withdrawals (“Water Scarcity and Agriculture”, The Water Project) and climate change affecting rainfall patterns, water management techniques in the agriculture and food industries are needed to reduce the water demands. Because 80% of the farm land is rainfed and contributes about 58% to the global food basket (Rainfed Agriculture: Unlocking the Potential, Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture Series, 2009), threats from water scarcity and climate change are serious problems, especially in developing countries. This section focuses on technologies and practices such as water and energy conserving irrigation techniques, treating water for crop production, low-energy water harvesting, rain catchment systems and analyzing the water footprint or virtual water in food products for discovering water and energy conserving opportunities.