It Takes 1,000 Times More Water To Feed A Person Than It Does To Satisfy Thirst

With the global population increasing, the demand for food will continue to boom. And this will put extraordinary strains on the world’s resources, especially water.

In a recent Bank of America Merrill Lynch report titled The Blue Revolution – Global Water, strategist Sarbjit Nahal takes a close look at the water story as it relates to food.

Agriculture – today’s biggest consumer
According to the FAO, it takes 1,000x more water to feed a population via agriculture than it does to satisfy thirst. This is leading to growing demand-side water pressure as food demand is expected to increase by 50% by 2025 to 2030 – meaning another 1,000km3 (1tn m3) of water per year – equal to the annual flow of 20 Niles or 100 Colorado Rivers (Source: InterAction Council). This will significantly exacerbate the imbalance between water demand and supply.

Farmers are extracting water at an unsustainable rate as the area irrigated by groundwater has increased on the back of more reliable water delivery, a decline in extraction costs, and government subsidies for power and pump installation and water itself.

Water intensity varies depending on the crop or livestock. Farming livestock is more water intensive than farming crops. It takes 15,500l of water to produce 1kg of beef, compared with 1,500l for 1kg of grain. However, we expect increasing demand for food to come from higher protein-based sources rather than more subsistence-based diets. Using current practices, the amount of water required for agricultural evapotranspiration to feed the world’s population would increase from 7,130km3 currently to between 12,050km3 and 13,500km3, an increase of 70-90% by 2050.

Here’s a table breaking down how much water it takes to make various types of food.

4 Comments on "It Takes 1,000 Times More Water To Feed A Person Than It Does To Satisfy Thirst"

DC on Tue, 20th Nov 2012 1:14 am 



Good luck with fining 100 more Colorado rivers. The *one* the US has is already beginning to run dry before it reaches the pacific.

BillT on Tue, 20th Nov 2012 1:38 am 



I think that the question: “Where’s the beef?” is going to become the norm in the very near future.

The Philippines has a lot of water, but it does NOT grow beef or have cow’s milk. The beef here comes from New Zealand or Australia, and even they will soon not be able to grow enough to export.

The Us Midwest is in the first stages of desertification. Aquifers running dry, rivers drying up, glaciers disappearing, no topsoil, etc. Many changes coming and they will not be pleasant.

GregT on Tue, 20th Nov 2012 2:24 am 



Yup,

It is only a matter of time before Canada will have the same problems with US immigration as the US has now with Mexico.

Kenz300 on Wed, 21st Nov 2012 4:57 pm 



Quote — “With the global population increasing, the demand for food will continue to boom. And this will put extraordinary strains on the world’s resources, especially water.”
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Maybe the ever growing world population is the main problem that needs to be addressed. Adding 80 million more mouths to feed, clothe, and supply energy for every year is the root cause of the problem. Too many people and too few resources.

Access to family planning services needs to be available to all that want it.