ROME,
Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- In less than 20 years, close to two billion people will be
without water and two thirds of the world will not have enough water, the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned here on Wednesday.
According to the head of FAO's Water, Development and
Management Unit, Pasquale Steduto, water use has expanded at twice the rate of
population growth over the past 100 years creating conditions of water scarcity.
Water shortages are obviously most acute in the
driest areas of the world, which are home to more than 2 billion people and to
half of all poor people.
Agriculture is the number-one user of water
worldwide, accounting for about 70 percent of all freshwater withdrawn from
lakes, waterways and aquifers around the world.
"Water has a major impact on the capacity of people
everywhere to improve their lives. In many regions, farmers trying to produce
enough food and income face the added challenges of repeated droughts and
competition for water," Steduto said.
One way to deal with water scarcity is through
farming-related techniques that harvest more rainfall, reduce waste in
irrigation and increase productivity, and in changes in crop and dietary
choices, Steduto added.
Steduto is currently chairman of the UN's
coordinating agency UN-Water, which includes UN departments that have a
significant role in tackling global water concerns as well as non-UN partners.
This year Rome-based FAO is coordinating World Water
Day, on March 22, which will be dedicated to the theme of "Coping With Water
Scarcity" and focus on the need for increased cooperation at international and
local levels to protect global water resources.
