With Earth Week occurring this month, consumers are especially in tune with sustainability issues related to climate change. In many parts of the world, that has caused water shortages, while conventional farming techniques have only exacerbated water scarcity, leading to shortages of commodities and other ingredients, causing food prices to become unaffordable for many people.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations recently released its report, “2021 State of Climate Services: Water.” In it, FAO estimates that high and very high water scarcity currently affects 3.2 billion rural people with one-sixth of the world’s population living in severely water-constrained agricultural areas. In addition, more than 170 million hectares—more than 60% of irrigated croplands—are subject to high water stress.