Overcoming water challenges in agriculture – Canadian Perspectives on #SOFA2020

27 January  2021, Washington, DC – According to FAO’s State of Food and Agriculture Report 2020, intensifying water constraints threaten food security and nutrition. Urgent action is needed to make water use in agriculture more sustainable and equitable. To discuss approaches to overcoming water scarcity in agriculture, FAO North America and McGill University co-organized a webinar that featured perspectives of Canadian experts, government officials and farmers, moderated by Thomas Pesek, Senior Liaison Officer at FAO North America.

Vimlendra Sharan, Director of FAO North America, stressed that “Although SDG 6 is specific to water, we need to remember that water is essential to achieving all other Sustainable Development Goals.”

Jan Adamowski, Director of the Integrated Water Resources Management Program at McGill University, outlined the program’s work on water management systems and drought forecasting to address water scarcity and food security. He also highlighted McGill’s efforts to help spread this knowledge and implement it in developing countries such as Guatemala, which would otherwise not have access to new technologies or better techniques.

Maximo Torero, Chief Economist at FAO and one of the lead experts responsible for the preparation of the State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) report, gave a detailed presentation of the main findings of the 2020 report on water scarcity. “Over 3 billion people live in agricultural areas with high to very high levels of water shortages and water scarcity. The majority of these populations live in Asia and Africa”. He outlined how policy coordination and coherence, trusted data and effective regulations are key to protect environmental flows and making improved water management work for all.

Laurie Tollefson, Vice President of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage, delivered a presentation on how Canada has continued to improve its water use efficiency. Major trends in Canada include fewer but larger farms and greater demand for water supply. While non-irrigated agriculture is predominant in Canada, 80% of irrigation takes place in arid and semi-arid regions of the country. Improvements in water use efficiency have positively impacted not only agricultural outcomes but also the better management of resources and greater maintenance of the land. “Climate change and water are closely linked. Water availability is affected, with periods of scarcity and excess. Extreme weather events are expected to be more frequent,” he stated. “Research, development, innovation and, technology transfer are key to increase the water use efficiency, and tackle water scarcity”.

Jennifer Nitschelm, Director at the Irrigation Secretariat of the Agriculture and Forestry Department, outlined that the Government of Alberta has a “Water for Life” strategy, which aims at providing safe and secure drinking water, healthy aquatic ecosystems, and quality water supplies for a sustainable economy. By using a priority system, they have worked to improve infrastructure and implement better policies to promote a more resilient system that will be better able to withstand climate change.

Richard Phillips, General Manager of the Bow River Irrigation District in Alberta, stated that “the Government of Alberta has been investing in increased efficiency for years and has achieved over 80% of its lands to be irrigated with 90%+ efficiency low-pressure irrigators. There are four main drivers for increased efficiency in Alberta: pipelines, balancing reservoirs, automation, and measurement”.

Abdul Jalil, Assistant Deputy Minister for Western Economic Diversification, emphasized that “long-term planning for water management is key for driving prosperity for future generations and a sustainable economy”.

To include the perspective from someone who works on the ground and sees the importance of water every day, Roger Pederson, a farmer and irrigator from Southern Saskatchewan, spoke about how he manages water and how he deals with periods of abundance to help ensure that water is well used during all seasons.

Sasha Koo-Oshima, Deputy Director of Land and Water, Natural Resources and, Sustainable Production at FAO, and Chandra A. Madramootoo, the James McGill Professor of Bioresource Engineering Department at McGill University shared their views on key water management challenges. Koo-Oshima emphasized that “we cannot manage what we don’t measure.” Therefore, reports such as SOFA and the effective measurement of water flows are essential for informed policy decisions. Madramootoo added that “SOFA 2020 shows very concerning trends of water scarcity. Canada has many innovations and solutions to offer. Striking a balance between multiple objectives is key”.

Sharing the knowledge and perspectives of countries that have advanced so much in innovation and science to improve water management was one of the main takeaways from this webinar. No country is exempt from food insecurity or from the need to effectively manage natural resources such as water, given the uncertainty of climate change and a global pandemic. Countries need to share knowledge and information to achieve the SDGs, especially SDG2 and SDG6. The participants agreed that countries should prioritize policies and interventions to overcome water constraints in agriculture while ensuring efficient, sustainable and equitable access to water.

 Further information:

• Watch the webinar
• State of Food and Agriculture - Overcoming water challenges in agriculture Report
• FAO’s Work on Land and Water
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