Looking ahead to 2050: scenarios of alternative investment approaches

Abstract

Food production requires enormous amounts of water and land. Yearly, some 7,130 cubic kilometers of water are consumed by crops to meet global food demand, the equivalent of 90 times the annual runoff of the Nile River, or more than 3,000 liters per person per day. Most of it (78%) comes directly from the rain, and 22% from irrigation. Already, 1.2 billion people live in river basins characterized by absolute physical water scarcity, while another 1.6 billion live in basins where economic constraints limit the pace of much-needed investments in water management. Today, food production requires about 2,500 square meters of cropland and 5,500 square meters of grazing land per person per year. Without proper investments water shortages, water quality deterioration, and land degradation are expected to intensify, particularly in resource-poor countries.