Rome — Water scarcity affects one in three people on every continent of the globe. The situation is getting worse as needs for water rise along with population growth, urbanization and increases in household and industrial uses. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will join experts from the scientific, business, policy and civic communities in Stockholm from 26-31 August to address how to reverse this impinging problem while ensuring the world's food security.
Organized by the Stockholm International Institute, the annual World Water Week will focus on water and food security this year. The theme comes at a time when the global food security situation is unstable. Fluctuating energy prices, poor harvests, and rising demand from a growing population, have all increased food prices. In the past few months, severe droughts have been reported from the United States to the Sahel region in Africa. These droughts further exacerbate the problem as they reduce global food supply due to reductions in irrigated agricultural production, which represents 40 per cent of the world's food demand.
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