Water is essential for feeding the world. As the global population growth advances toward reaching 8.5 billion by 2030, responsible stewardship of this precious resource is becoming even more important. Agriculture and the processing of food ingredients currently uses 70 percent of the world’s fresh water supply. Already, nearly half of the global population lives in areas that can experience water scarcity at least one month a year, often impacting food security and the well-being of communities and ecosystems.
Sustainability nonprofit Ceres’ “Feeding Ourselves Thirsty” report, the third edition of which was recently published, highlights that for the food and agriculture sectors, water scarcity and mismanagement represent a direct risk to supply chain resilience. In purely financial terms, a 2018 MSCI analysis found that $415 billion in revenue might be at risk from lack of water availability for irrigation or animal consumption.