Jordan Environment Watch : WEF 2008 Scenarios: How Much Water do You Eat?

This is the summary of scenario session on water scarcity in relation to food (in)security which was held in WEF MENA 2008.

Fahd Bin Abdulrahman Bin Sulaiman Balghunaim • E. Neville Isdell • Mahmoud Safwat Mohieldin •Raed Abu Al Saud • Mahmoud Abu Zeid
Opening Remarks: • H.R.H. Prince Turki Bin Talal Al Saud
Moderator: • Margaret Catley-Carlson

In the Sustainable World, water scarcity, rising commodity prices and the high demand for food security triggers a series of policy reforms and investment flows that eventually improves the efficiency of water management and food production in the Middle East. “How do we get to this more sustainable world? Is the situation all gloom and doom?” asked moderator Margaret Catley-Carlson, Patron, Global Water Partnership (GWP), UN Secretary-General Advisory Board on Water, Canada.

According to the World Bank, the number of people lacking water in 2025 will reach 1.4 billion in 48 countries. “All steps should be taken to reduce this crisis; we have to give a better future to the next generation,” said H.R.H. Prince Turki Bin Talal Al Saud, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, The Mentor Arabia Foundation, Saudi Arabia. “The opportunity is there if we provide the proper management.”

Fahd Bin Abdulrahman Bin Sulaiman Balghunaim, Minister of Agriculture of Saudi Arabia, also expressed optimism for the future. “I strongly believe that there is tremendous room for agricultural productivity; more crops per less drops,” he said. Constrained by water resources, the government of Saudi Arabia has recently declared that it will reduce wheat production – a water-intensive crop – by 12.5% over the next eight years.

For Raed Abu Al Saud, Minister of Water and Irrigation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, who comes from the world’s fourth poorest country in terms of water resources, the future solution for water problems facing the region is desalinization. He added that the private sector should be involved in water management and agriculture, highlighting successful public-private partnerships in the water sector in Jordan.

“How do you attract investment to improve productivity?” queried Mahmoud Safwat Mohieldin, Minister of Investment of Egypt. Answering his own question, he said that bad policies need to be changed and the right financial instruments to improve agriculture infrastructure and fund crop productivity should be identified. “Water must be a part of economic policies.”

Mahmoud Abu Zeid, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation of Egypt, added that water use, efficiency and productivity (more food per drop of water) can be improved at the national level, especially through local water user associations and the involvement of the private sector.

Echoing this sentiment, E. Neville Isdell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Coca-Cola Company, USA, said that governments need to partner with private enterprises to find solutions. “At the end of day we need to change our mindset,” he said, and that multinationals can play a leadership role in this regard.

Catley-Carlson summed up the main ingredients for a good scenario in 2025:

• Technology
• Better informed choices (choice of crops, technique, etc.)
• Good governance (reforms)
• Policy change
• Urgency
• Peace