Out of Water: From Abundance to Scarcity and How to Solve the World’s Water Problems

Chapter Six: Water, Food, and Poverty

The relationship between water, food, and poverty is complex. However there are two ways in which the connections can be viewed. If we accept that to be free of poverty is to be free of hunger and experience a degree of well-being that enables a person to work, “food security”—ensuring enough food for all—is a precondition to poverty alleviation. A food-secure world requires water to be used more efficiently to end hunger and malnourishment. We also know that for a large number of the poorest people who live by farming, moving from farming-for-subsistence to farming-for-profit is not easy. Access and availability of water, one of the basic inputs required for agriculture, can make a huge difference to the ...