Water for Earth: The role of water to achieve climate-smart ecosystems
The relationship between man and nature has deeply changed in time. The progress of civilization and search for new comforts have often corresponded with faster rhythms, wider urbanization, instant benefits, and heavier rates of natural exploitation. This has happened almost to the point of forgetting our ancient sense of belonging, the inseparable bond we have with nature, which eventually ensures our survival. Has also our relationship with water changed?
Water is the pillar of life: without water, a person can survive only three to four days. Starting from this truth, in 2010, the UN General Assembly formally recognized the right to safe and clean drinking water as a “human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.”
However, we are still far from ensuring safe, clean, accessible, and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all. A quarter of the global population is affected by extreme water stress, meaning that agriculture, industry, and domestic use account for over 80% of the available water supply; while 2.2 billion people still lack access to good-quality drinking water, reveals UNICEF. This data also impacts our country: placed between Egypt and Thailand in terms of national water stress rankings, ISTAT 2020 reveals that almost 36% of Italian households experience irregularity in the water supply throughout the year.
Water is the basis of nutrition: healthy soils naturally contain freshwater, from which plants absorb the necessary nutrients to grow.
Water imbalances in soil, both water shortage, and water excesses impair this precious function. To date, desertification has been dangerously advancing, and soil degradation already affects three-quarters of Earth’s land area, according to the European Commission’s World Atlas of Desertification. Puglia, Sicily, and Sardinia are already defined as drylands. Also, floods and destructive rainfall have increased over time, posing additional risks for soils and countries, such as Italy, already defined as the second most affected country in the EU by hydrogeological catastrophes.
Water is pivotal for food: producing food requires water. Irrigation in agriculture contributes to producing 40 percent of the total food while representing 20 percent of the global cultivated land, reveals the World Bank.
However, almost half of the water used for irrigation comes from groundwater, whose rate of depletion has doubled between 1960 and 2000. This context is further exacerbated by global warming: abnormally hot winters and high evaporation rates are inevitably jeopardizing both food production and access to water in many areas, especially those already at risk of water scarcity. Moreover, intensive agricultural practices inevitably impact water safety, with (irrigation) agriculture the largest wastewater producer, by volume.
“We will be destroyed by climate change, not the planet. This will be for us a clear indication that we absolutely need to change course.” — Antonio Guterres
Finding a better harmony with water resources: achieving climate-smart ecosystems
Restoring the ancient harmony with our planet requires greater respect for natural cycles and stronger preservation of biodiversity. We cannot completely control and predict extreme weather events but we have the responsibility to take action on its causes, limiting our impacts on water ecosystems, decelerating the rate of its exploitation and overuse. Resilience to climate change requires a great sense of adaptation and mitigation to be put in place holistically, through different lenses, and at different levels: from cities to farms, from producers to consumers.
CLIMATE-SMART FARMS
Farmers of the future will be asked to produce more food with less water and less pollution. Improving water efficiency is one aspect at the basis of regenerative agricultural practices, and several forms of water innovation, such as those financed by the EU, can accelerate this transition. Smart power systems, precision agriculture tools, farm management software, and sensors can both monitor water efficiency and plan irrigation interventions based on crop needs, optimizing water efficiency and, evidently, agricultural production. Equally, restoring traditional practices, such as permaculture, crop rotation, or introducing natural predators of common pests, represent natural ways to minimize fertilizers and pesticides in total respect for ecosystem services.
CLIMATE-SMART CITIES
Extreme climatological events such as storms, floods, droughts, and heatwaves, recorded twice as frequently as in 1980, directly imperil cities’ availability to access sufficient quantities of good-quality water. To adapt to these changes, cities are already rethinking spaces, areas, and ways to access food and water. Controlled-environment agriculture and closed-loop systems such as hydroponics and aeroponics have already revealed the first benefits in terms of reducing the distance between farmers and consumers, saving water and soil, and guaranteeing adequate food even within food deserts.
CLIMATE-SMART KITCHENS
The kitchens of the future not only need to be smart but also places where people can create recipes for a better world, by selecting and using products responsibly, reducing water overconsumption, and preventing food waste. Culinary responsibility is the core of regenerative kitchens. Climate-smart kitchens are places where food demand comes from conscious eaters, who can orient and regenerate the agri-food system from the bottom.
Regardless of any background, expertise, geographic area, or age, it is the responsibility of each of us, through our decisions or actions, to move the needle towards climate-smart ecosystems. Demanding a better world where human wellbeing does not come at the expense of nature wellbeing is no longer an option. And to succeed, we have to do it by joining forces, together.
This week the Future Food Institute is launching the third edition of the Digital Boot Camp, an advanced learning program, designed in partnership with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), to develop the Food and Climate Shapers of today and tomorrow. Intentionally and starting from the urgency to increase resilience and adaptation, the Future Food Academy has identified specific tracks: Climate-Smart Cities, Climate-Smart Farms, Climate-Smart Kitchens, which are enriched with an extra track, Climate-Smart Oceans. As part of the challenges affecting the agrifood system, also water will be touched and investigated during this “hybrid” learning pathway which combines inspiration from expert conversations, ecosystemic thinking, problem-solving strategies, and concrete actions to build a thriving society.
“A wise man adapts himself to circumstances, as water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it.” — Chinese proverb
The Future Food Institute is an international social enterprise that believes climate change is at the end of your fork. By harnessing the power of its global ecosystem of partners, innovators, researchers, educators, and entrepreneurs, FFI aims to sustainably improve life on Earth through transformation of global food systems.
By training the next generation of changemakers, empowering communities, and engaging government and industry in actionable innovation, FFI catalyzes progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Learn more at www.futurefoodinsitute.org, join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or YouTube. Or attend a program through the FutureFood.Academy!
