- Water for irrigation and food production constitutes one of the greatest pressures on freshwater resources. Agriculture accounts for around 70 per cent of global freshwater withdrawals, even up to 90 per cent in some fast-growing economies. (4th UN World Water Development Report, 2012)
- Future global agricultural water consumption (including both rainfed and irrigated agriculture) are estimated to increase with 19 per cent by 2050. (4th UN World Water Development Report, 2012)
- Global population growth projections of 2–3 billion people over the next 40 years, combined with changing diets, result in a predicted increase in food demand of 70 per cent by 2050. (4th UN World Water Development Report, 2012)
- Feeding everyone in 2050 – including the undernourished and the additional 3 billion people expected – could require 50 per cent more water than is needed now. (Falkenmark, M. and J. Rockström: Balancing Water for Humans and Nature. The New Approach in Ecohydrology, 2004)
- The main challenge facing the agricultural sector is not as much growing 70 per cent of additional food in 40 years, but making 70 per cent more food available on the plate. (4th UN World Water Development Report, 2012)
- The dietary shift from predominantly starch-based food to meat and dairy, which require more water, is the greatest to impact on water consumption over the past 30 years. Producing 1 kg of rice requires approximately 3,500 litres of water while 1 kg of beef requires 15,000 litres. (4th UN World Water Development Report, 2012)
- Producing 1 kg of meat requires as much water as an average domestic household does over 10 months (50l/person/day). (SIWI: Saving Water: From Field to Forks – Curbing Losses and Wastage in the Food Chain, 2008)
- Between one-third and one-half of the produced food is being lost early on in the supply chain segments or wasted at the consumer-end, amounting to about 1.3 billion tons per year globally. (SIWI: Feeding a Thirsty World – Challenges and Opportunities for a Water and Food Secure Future, 2012)
- Estimations show that the per capita food waste by consumers in Europe and North-America is 95-115 kg/year, while this figure in Sub-Saharan Africa and South/Southeast Asia is only 6-11 kg/year. (FAO: Global Food Losses and Food Waste, 2011)
- The underlying factors that cause food losses and waste are significantly different between industrialised countries, where food waste and overeating is the bigger problem, and developing countries, where food losses and undernourishment are more extensive. (SIWI: Feeding a Thirsty World – Challenges and Opportunities for a Water and Food Secure Future, 2012)
- Reducing food wastage by 50 per cent – including post-harvest losses, losses in transport and handling, and losses in the household – might vastly reduce or even negate the need for additional water to grow more food, which will ensure sufficient water is available for food in the future. (SIWI: Saving Water: From Field to Fork – Curbing Losses and Wastage in the Food Chain, 2008)
- Estimates indicate that there will not be enough water available on current croplands to produce food for the expected population in 2050 if we follow current trends and changes towards diets common in Western nations (3,000 kcal produced per capita, including 20 per cent of calories produced coming from animal proteins). (SIWI: Feeding a Thirsty World – Challenges and Opportunities for a Water and Food Secure Future, 2012)
- Globally, irrigation water allocated to biofuel production is estimated at 44 km3, or 2 per cent of all irrigation water. Under current production conditions it takes an average of roughly 2,500 litres of water (about 820 litres of it irrigation water) to produce 1 litre of liquid biofuel (the same amount needed on average to produce food for one person for one day). (3rd UN World Water Development Report, 2009)
- Irrigation is essential for overall food production by enabling 40 per cent of the production on only 17 per cent of the cropland. (SIWI: Let it Reign: The New Water Paradigm for Global Food Security, 2005)
- Implementing all current national biofuel policies and plans would take 30 million hectares of cropland and 180 km3 of additional irrigation water. (3rd UN World Water Development Report, 2009)
- As irrigation systems come under pressure to produce more with less water, there is a danger that unequal rights and entitlements will widen inequalities. (UNDP: Human Development Report, 2006)
- For some countries, climate change may lead to an increase in food production, as in North America and Europe, where high gains are projected. (SIWI: Let it Reign: The New Water Paradigm for Global Food Security, 2005)
- For the 40 poorest countries, with a total population of some 1–3 billion, climate change may result in a loss of up to a fifth of the cereal production potential in the 2080s. (SIWI: Let it Reign: The New Water Paradigm for Global Food Security, 2005)
- As many as 40 per cent of the Sub-Saharan countries could lose a substantial part of their agricultural production due to climate change. (SIWI: Let it Reign: The New Water Paradigm for Global Food Security, 2005)
