Statistics say that each of us drinks from 2 to 4 liters of water every day, but imagine if I told you that you had just consumed 1500 liters of water with your shawarma sandwich. Most of the water that we actually consume is embedded in the food we eat. This, less obvious use of fresh water, is the focus of this year’s UN World Water Day.
On March 22nd, organizations around the world are raising awareness about the food we eat and the tremendous amounts of water it requires getting from farm to table. The numbers are simply staggering. As the world population grows, agriculture is struggling to keep pace and the hidden burden lies squarely on the shoulders of the global supply of fresh water. During the second half of the 20th century, world population had a twofold increase, agriculture doubled food production and developing countries increased per capita food consumption by 30 percent.
What few may consider is the amount of water necessary for such increases in food supply. Irrigated agriculture contributes 40% of the total food produced worldwide. In turn, 70% of the blue water withdrawals at global level go to irrigation. Agriculture - both irrigated and non-irrigated - accounts for 85% to 95% of all water usage in many developing countries. Within this growth there are prospects for setting things straight.
UN-Water, based in Rome, advocates several steps that governments can put in place to help conserve our fresh water:
improving performance of irrigation services -augmenting supply: use of non-conventional water -water harvesting -clearly defined national policies on water use -trade and potential of virtual water.
Where does this leave Lebanon? What may come as a surprise to armchair environmental activists in Lebanon is that the cedar nation is rather well advanced in conserving its precious liquid resource. The Canal 800 program, one of the largest of its kind, is a surface water distribution network across agriculturally vital parts of Lebanon that was designed to tap surface water in an attempt to reduce demands on heavily-use, and definitely finite, ground water reserves.
In June 2003, as part of a National Action Program for Combating Desertification, Lebanon initiated water harvesting in Baalbeck-Hermel as a way to bring much-needed fresh water to isolated but fertile lands. But it isn’t only big government projects that can make an impact. Human consumption patterns are playing a crucial role in defining how much water is being used in the production of the world’s food.
A single kilogram of wheat can take up to 1500 liters to grow, a shocking amount, but a kilogram of beef requires ten times that. What we choose to eat is important, but it is equally important to eat what we choose. Roughly 30% of the food produced worldwide – about 1.3 billion tons - is lost or wasted every year.
Again, where does this leave Lebanon?
On this World Water Day, yes, it is important to ask what your government is or isn’t doing for the environment; But before jumping on the
do-nothing government" bandwagon, we Lebanese should look down at our plates and see, with every bite, what future we are creating for ourselves and our children.
Greg Ohannessian is currently the editor for LBCI Online English News. He received his Masters in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Studies from King's College London in 2010.