How F&B can tackle water scarcity summary
- Agriculture uses 70% freshwater withdrawals driving high water demand
- Sixty percent irrigated agriculture faces extreme water stress globally
- Population growth, urbanisation, diets, and climate change intensify scarcity
- Companies need transparent water accounting, efficient irrigation, water harvesting and well-organised cleaning schedules
- Local strategies, drought tolerant crops and efficiency, protect production
Water is absolutely crucial to food production. It is used for irrigation in agriculture, for cleaning and sanitation in factories, and even as an ingredient in food products.
Agriculture alone accounts for 70% of freshwater withdrawals (the amount taken from a water source). The average consumer has between 2,000 and 5,000 litres of water embedded in their diet daily through its links to the food production process, according to qualifying body the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE).
Yet the world is seeing water shortages, and water scarcity is a growing problem. According to the think-tank World Resources Institute (WRI), 60% of irrigated agriculture globally faces extremely high water stress.
How can food companies combat these risks, protect their water supply and mitigate the impacts of scarcity?
Why is water scarce?
Water scarcity – when the supply of freshwater is lower than demand – is increasing.
This has potentially dire implications. In severe cases, water scarcity can lead to competition for supply, rising prices, greater volatility, and crop failures.
The reason for the prevalence of water scarcity is threefold, explains Aslihan Arslan, economist at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Firstly, population growth has reduced the amount of available freshwater per person, by some estimates as much as 20%.
Secondly, rising incomes and urbanisation have meant greater demand for water from industry, energy and services as lifestyles have changed. Diets are a big part of this – they are increasingly composed by foods which are water-intensive to produce, such as meat and dairy.
Finally, climate change has exacerbated the problem, altering rainfall and affecting both rainfed and irrigated agriculture.
How can industry mitigate the problem?
Producers working with water must ensure that they use it productively and sustainably, says Arslan.
For example, producers must manage water efficiently. “The starting point of any effective strategy should be transparent water accounting and auditing to understand current supply and demand.”
Companies must understand how much water they have, how much water they may be able to get hold of in the future, and how much water they need for production.
Furthermore, those working on rainfed cropland should invest in water harvesting and conservation, which involves collecting, storing and reusing rainwater, Arslan says.
Meanwhile, farmers on irrigated land should modernise irrigation infrastructure and improve practices to increase water productivity.
Sometimes, water extracted from food itself can even be used in production, points out IChemE. This method has been used in the growing of sugar beets, for example, which are 75% water.
The production of drought-tolerant crop varieties, through technology such as CRISPR, is a long-term mitigation strategy for the problem of water scarcity – not using water more effectively in this case, but allowing crops to cope better with its absence.
Water scarcity is a local problem and must be managed locally, according to WRI.
Businesses must adapt to their surroundings. Global businesses can’t make a blanket water scarcity mitigation plan for all the regions in which they operate. Water levels will be different in different areas, and some areas may even feature additional problems, such as contamination.
At the factory level, water is also used heavily. According to IChemE, cleaning of processing equipment and products can constitute up to 70% of the water used in a food factory.
Thus, optimising cleaning schedules could help food companies reduce water usage, as can using less water-intensive cleaning methods.
In short, conserving water is vital, not just for sustainability goals but, with the availability of water declining, for production itself.
