Water is the invisible ingredient in everything we eat. Global water reserves are under relentless pressure—and nowhere more so than in our broken food system. Fixing water scarcity is essential for addressing global food insecurity.

In his book The Last Drop, Tim Smedley uses an avocado to illustrate the enormous volume of water required to grow crops. In the Petorca region of Chile, between 1,200-2,000 litres are needed to produce one kilogramme of avocadoes, meaning one avocado has a water footprint of around 273 litres. A bath and a half to make half a tub of guacamole—an unsustainable demand for a water-stressed country like Chile.

Today, 72 percent of the world’s freshwater is used in agriculture. This relentless demand puts reserves at risk. Here in the UK rivers are experiencing exceptionally low levels due to unseasonal heatwaves, raising supply concerns to homes, farms and businesses. Added to the stress of agricultural abstraction, farming and food production also affect water quality and contribute to climate change and pollution.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO) predicts that by 2030, global demand for water will double, while we are on track to face a 40 percent shortfall. Add to this to the need for food production to increase by 50 percent to meet demand; with 40 percent of global croplands already experiencing water scarcity, we are on track for a mass food scarcity event for humanity.

Fixing Water Scarcity: A Global Demand, a Global Issue

This isn’t just in a few countries. The pressures on water reserves stretch from the Artic to the heart of Europe. Take the ancient glaciers. These mighty ice mountains hold almost three-quarters of our planet’s freshwater and support around two billion people for drinking and hydropower with glacial meltwater. Glaciers feed some of the most important river systems and provide a steady supply of water for agriculture. Their reserves are shrinking due to climate change and even the very best scenario of 1.5°C would still see half of the world’s glaciers disappear by 2100 posing a huge threat to global agriculture—impacting water availability, crop yields, and food prices.

Read the full article about fixing water scarcity by Amanda Jordan and Estelle Herszenhorn at Alliance Magazine.