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More information and download links below the graphic.
Projected changes in cereal productivity in Africa, due to climate change – current climate to 2080
Click here, or on the graphic, for full resolution. Projected changes in cereal productivity in Africa, due to climate change – current climate to 2080. Water is essential not only to survival but is also equally or even
more important than nutrients in food production. Agriculture accounts
for nearly 70% of the water consumption, with some estimates
as high as 85% (Hanasaki et al., 2008a,b). Water scarcity
will affect over 1.8 billion people by 2025 (WHO, 2007). This could
have major impacts on health, particularly in rural areas, and thus
also major impacts on farmer productivity. Although of great significance,
such indirect effects are not considered here. Current
projections suggest that water demand is likely to double by 2050
(Figure 20). Estimates project water withdrawals to increase by 22–
32% by 2025 (De Fraiture et al., 2003) and nearly double by 2050,
for all SRES scenarios (Shen et al., 2008). For poor countries with
rapid population growth and depletion of groundwater, water-deficit
induced food insecurity is a growing problem (Rosegrant and
Cai, 2002; Yang et al., 2003). One major factor beyond agricultural,
industrial and urban consumption of water is the destruction of
watersheds and natural water towers, such as forests in watersheds
and wetlands, which also serve as flood buffers (UNEP, 2005).
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