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Water scarcity threatens our food: From competition to unequal access
Water scarcity is most acute in Java – home to more than 60 percent of Indonesia's population – with many of its cities and most of its agriculture only possessing 10 percent of the country's water resources.
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Planned planting: Balinese farmers prepare rice seedlings for planting at a rice terrace in Jatiluwih village in Tabanan regency, Bali, on Jan. 1, 2014. The local farmers have for generations used a complex irrigation system called subak. (AFP/Sonny Tumbelaka)
W
ater availability is essential for agricultural outputs and ensuring the safety of our food supply. Drinking and sanitation, agriculture (fishery, crops and livestock), food processing and food preparation all rely on water. Therefore, water must be of sufficient quality and quantity.
A lack of available water threatens the agricultural sector and the safety of our food supply. The agriculture sector absorbs about 70 percent of all freshwater resources, making it both a cause and victim of water scarcity. This consumption rate, unless controlled, is detrimental to the ecosystem and depletes water supplies for other uses.
The climate crisis also severely affects agriculture by raising the water demand, restricting agricultural outputs, and diminishing water availability in regions where irrigation is most necessary or advantageous.
In the next few decades, water scarcity may affect two-thirds of the world's population, worsening the world’s ecosystem. Consequently, there will be an increase in precipitation in temperate zones, in the variability of rainfall distribution, in the frequency of extreme events, which lead to higher temperatures.
Although Indonesia has tremendous potential for renewable water resources, water supply and demand are frequently out of balance.
Freshwater is abundant in sparsely-populated Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua, while in densely populated islands such as Java, less freshwater is accessible. Water scarcity is most acute in Java – home to more than 60 percent of Indonesia's population – with many of its cities and most of its agriculture only possessing 10 percent of the country's water resources.
In South Sumatra, Sulawesi, Bali and West Nusa Tenggara, the main surface water user is the agriculture sector, with quite a high annual irrigation needing 177,100 million cubic meters.
