Asia, Agriculture, and Water

 

You might want to dust off the old atlas in terms of better understanding water resources in Asia.  It is home to many of the world's great rivers and lakes, but its huge population and exploding economic and agricultural demand for water make it the most water-scarce continent on a per capita basis.  The is highlighted and discussed in Water: Asia's New Battleground (2011) by Brahma Chellaney.  He puts Asia's water issues in the following context:

"Water is becoming a precious commodity whose control is at the core of several raging conflicts in Asia.  Asia's water woes have been exacerbated by rapidly expanding economics, surging populations, rising per capita consumption levels, and continuing rural-to-urban migration.  The water crisis now haunting the continent is the bitter fruit of unsustainable practices and a gross mismanagement of basin resources.  And it has been accentuated by the rapid spread of irrigated farming and high-water consuming industries and by a growing middle class that not only uses water-guzzling comforts such as washing machines and dishwashers but it also is eating more meat, which is notoriously water-intensive to produce."

Agriculture has a unique place at the intersection of a rapidly rising middle class and food production.  Chellaney writes the following:

"Almost 74 percent of the total global freshwater withdrawals for agriculture by volume are made in Asia alone.  As a proportion of its own renewable water resources, Asia's yearly agricultural water withdrawals actually aggregate to 81 percent, or at least 10 percentage points higher than the global average.  In comparison, water withdrawals in Asia for industrial purposes account for just 11.4 percent; and for household needs, 7.3 percent.  South Asia, for its part leads the other Asian subregions in terms of water withdrawals for agriculture.  As a general rule, a larger share of water is channeled for agriculture in the developing countries than in the West, while on the whole has temperate climates and longer rainy periods each year.  Hotter Africa's water withdrawals for the agricultural sector as a percentage of total renewable water resources even surpass Asia's.  Asia, however, has the distinction of being the world's irrigation center.  In the developed world, other than Australia and New Zealand, it is industry, not agriculture, that ranks as the leading water consumer.  Water withdrawals for industry aggregate to 55 percent and for agriculture 29 percent in Europe, whereas the figure for North America are 48 percent and 38 percent, respectively."