By Foster Obi
The United Nations specilaized agency, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is releasing “State of Food and Agriculture 2020”, a flagship report that this year focuses on water scarcity and water stress around the world.
FAO Director-General QU Dongyu, FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero and FAO Chief Scientist Ismahane Elouafi will present the report during a virtual launch event on Thursday 26 November, 2020, at 15:00 (Rome time).
The report presents new data on water scarcity and stress around the world linked to Sustainable Development Goals of which FAO is the custodian. It assesses how many people are and likely will be living in areas experiencing severe or high levels of water stress and drought frequency and investigates how agriculture, by far the largest sectorial user of fresh water and rain water, can make more productive and sustainable use of a resource under growing pressure.
According to FAO, the SOFA report also explores water management opportunities – from incentive and pricing schemes to innovative collection, storage and irrigation techniques, and extending to international trade frameworks – around the world, where availability varies enormously.
