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2nd GEOSS Science and Technology Stakeholder Workshop
GEOSS: Supporting Science for the Millennium Development Goals and Beyond
Bonn, Germany, August 28—31, 2012

Breakout Session B4: Food and Water Security

Conveners: Gordon Young, Anik Bhaduri

Considering the amplified interconnectedness of global food and water availability, to ensure food and water security calls for joint global responsibility and cooperation. Policy- and decision-making in “silos” needs to give way to an approach that reduces trade-offs and builds synergies across sectors — a nexus approach. The benefits of partnerships between the water and agricultural sectors have long been recognized due to the role of agriculture as the largest user of global freshwater. However, these partnerships have to be built on adaptive governance for water and food security which implies not only multi-scale polycentric institutional structures but also the timely provision and distribution of data needed to make informed decisions:
effective tools are needed to support decision-makers in acting more in a more timely and coordinated manner in response to risks related to water and food availability as well as to mitigate the impacts of water-related extreme weather events due to climate change that put further pressure on food availability and prices.

Earth observation is the basis to provide this information:
from global satellite data and in-situ time series at specific locations, over tools for accessing and using the data, to systems that integrate these data with other information — especially those of food price alert systems. These monitor global, regional and national agricultural commodity markets to be able to make efficient use of measures against the adverse effects of food price volatility such as buffer stocks or emergency food reserves. However, significant investment is needed as sufficient infrastructure for data collection and distribution does often not exist, especially in developing countries, impeding the ability to cope with variability and change. For existing data, a promising path to integrate earth observation and monitoring systems for agricultural commodities, is to identify new metrics and valid indicators that can be applied across sectors to assess interlinkages. Such new and innovative partnerships for effective governance have to recognize and take action with regard to the fact that water security underlies all dimensions of human well-being, and is fundamental not only to food production but is the basis for nutrition, health, energy and sustainable land management.

The Breakout Session B4 will address water and food security issues within the broader context of global security issues. The end-product of the session will be to produce recommendations on how best to incorporate earth observation monitoring systems into the management of water and food security.

  1. Issues of Global Security - Placing water security within the much broader context: the many elements of global security in a world of change and uncertainty

    Water security is but one element within the general sphere of global security. It is set alongside many other security issues including:

    • Global population explosion in less developed countries and in cities; population migrations
    • Geo-political changes and re-alignments
    • Unrest/warfare in many countries and regions
    • Global terrorism
    • Financial crises
    • Health risks and vulnerabilities
    • Climate change
    • Sun spot activity, volcanoes, earthquakes
  2. Elements of water security

    Diverse uses of water

    • Human well-being — health and food security
    • Economic development (energy, industry)
    • Social development (water for schools and hospitals)
    • Water to sustain ecosystems
    • Often the availability of water, in sufficient quantity and in appropriate quality, is insufficient for the demand; there is competition between the various demands and thus the need for Integrated Water Resources Management
    Water as a threat
    • Floods
    • Droughts
    • Pollution
  3. Water and food security

    Clearly water is required for all types of food production whether for agriculture, livestock or aquaculture and fisheries; water may be required in different amounts and at different times of the year depending on the type of food production.

    While water is essential for food security it is not the only driver of food production and distribution. Other elements include:

    • Ownership of the food production process — dependent on political, economic and institutional set-ups — from large agri-businesses to small farm producers;
    • Tariffs, subsidies, costs of transportation, regulations on imports and exports;
    • Changing eating preferences — greater individual wealth often associated with change in food preference from vegetables to meat and poultry — these changes have enormous implications for water demand (include water requirements for differing food types here).

    The geography of undernourishment — food security issues far greater in the less developed world than in more developed regions

    Considering the amplified interconnectedness of global food and water availability, food and water security calls for joint global responsibility and cooperation. In this perspective, policy- and decision-making requires a nexus approach that reduces trade-offs and builds synergies across sectors. The benefits of such partnership between the water and agricultural sectors is not new, and it has long been recognized due to the role of agriculture as the largest user of global freshwater. This partnership has to be built on adaptive governance for water and food security based not only on multi-scale polycentric institutional structures, but also on timely provision and distribution of data that are needed to make informed decisions.

    Effective tools are needed to support decision-makers in a more timely and coordinated manner in response to risks related to water and food availability, and mitigate the impacts of water-related extreme weather events due to climate change that put further pressure on food availability and prices.

    Earth observation is the basis to provide such information: from global satellite data and in-situ time series at specific locations, over tools for accessing and using the data, to systems that integrate these data with other information — especially those of food price alert systems. The latter monitors global, regional and national agricultural commodity markets to be able to make efficient use of measures against the adverse effects of food price volatility. Significant investment is needed as sufficient infrastructure for data collection and distribution does often not exist, especially in developing countries, impeding the ability to cope with variability and change. For existing data, the challenge lies ahead to integrate earth observation and monitoring systems for agricultural commodities, and identify new metrics and valid indicators that can be applied across sectors to assess interlinkages. Such new and innovative partnerships for effective governance have to be recognized, and action taken with regard to the fact that water security underlies all dimensions of human well-being, and is fundamental not only to food production but is the basis for nutrition, health, energy and sustainable resource management.

  4. The role of Earth Sciences in underpinning the management of water resources (with particular emphasis on water as related to food security)

    Understanding hydrological systems is clearly necessary to underpin effective water management. This includes understanding the following elements that influence the hydrological cycle:

    • Climatic drivers — water and energy delivery in time and space — changes in these drivers over time — the differences between nival and pluvial regimes;
    • Influences of topography from steep-sloped mountain regions to lowland flat-lands;
    • Underlying geology — for aquifers and for soil development — (gravity measurements can be very useful in monitoring changes in aquifers over large regions);
    • Vegetation development — with particular emphasis on human-induced vegetation changes;
    • Sediment supply — particularly influenced by the creation of dams with resulting interruption of sediment supply;
    • Earthquakes — with resulting landslides, avalanches, mudflows and tsunamis; Volcanoes — with influences on climate — and with effects of melting snow and ice with catastrophic lahars etc;
    • Cryospheric sciences for snow and ice influences on hydrology.

    These elements are themselves interrelated; recommendations for their inclusion as related to water management should be developed.


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