Conclusion

Global patterns of water shortages are occurring more frequently at local and national levels, with widespread implications for human and economic development. The largest user of water, the agricultural sector, is facing growing pressure to reduce its unsustainable practices, at national and global level. Whilst global and regional governance has prioritised institutional water rights at the Dublin Conference, solutions for the water crisis remain within resource management. Implications of water shortages are global and can exacerbate pre-existing conditions of underdevelopment, high population growth & poverty in regions such as MENA and result in disasters i.e. conflict & displacement. 

Regional economic giants, KSA & Israel/OPT, are investing in solutions to address their national water shortages. In order to maintain and increase water yield, KSA is adopting unsustainable application of dams, desalination and continued over-use of precious aquifers, which has ecological implications. Contrastingly, Israel/OPT adoption of increasing water productivity at lower yields via drip irrigation is more sustainable approach on all levels (technologically, economically & environmentally). Drip irrigation is a readily applicable agricultural practice and within the technological capacities of most nations, resulting in a growing international application, support and policies. 

Which is agricultural system is more sustainable? 

Evidentally, the Israeli/OPT drip-irrigation system is significantly more sustainable as it addresses the environmental impacts of agriculture and aims to reduce excess water use, compared to the KSA's method of increasing use by employing expensive technology. However, maintaining water resources is vital for both these countries as it supplies the capitalist development and ventures they benefit from.  

Technological and political cooperation will be essential to promote sustainable practices at national and regional scale which are sensitive to the ecology to be able to reduce the potential disasters of water crisis at a global level. 

Recommended sites related to the topic:

• "Greening the Desert," National Geographic
• "Grow more with less (drip-irrigation)," Netafim
• "Food supply crisis and the role of Agriculture in the Middle East and North Africa," Dr. Gamal Siam
• "Ancient Agriculture," Wikipedia
• "Sustainable Agriculture," Hannah Gould (the Guardian)

Comments are welcome below



[1] Saudi Arabia is located in an extreme desert without any surface watercourses or bodies. Israel/OPT is semi-arid (50% desert type land) with annual fluctuation of precipitation.

[2] Social and personal values of Israeli/OPT agriculture has allowed it to be prioritised within the national economy, with fairly low rates of importing (less than 25%), but water scarcity is increasing this rate (as with KSA). 

[3] KSA is the largest producer of desalinated water in the world, with 30 plants across the Arabian Gulf and Red Sea.

[4] A form of irrigation that uses a perforated pipe to deliver water directly to the soil around the roots of each plant, in order to minimize losses by evaporation and to eliminate runoff and soil erosion.

Irrigation Systems: Centre pivot vs Drip-irrigation

Irrigation is the artificial application of water on the soil surface to assist the growth of crops. Irrigation uses an excessive volume of water which accounts for a proportion of the water use in the sector. More efficient system is required to reduce the water stress and limit the effects of the crisis.. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) [1] and Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) [2] are two large MENA economies, where water shortages have resulted in them applying technological solutions such as desalination[3] and use of waste water for irrigation which both have ecological impacts associated with them.

"...so the Saudis, among others, have taken to greening the desert..."

Centre pivot irrigation system is applied by Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)and the drip system by Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).  KSA crop production is predominantly fallow, alfalfa and wheat, compared to the fairly Mediterranean climate of Israel/OPT which allows water rich crops such as various fruits and vegetable to be grown. Centre pivot in KSA allows localised crop growth as shown in the photo above, and is heavily reliant on the aquifer below but sustained usage can result in lower crop yields and soil degradation. To tackle the growing water scarcity problems, the KSA government intends to increase its application and reliance on desalination plants. The KSA is already the world's largest producer of desalinated water, which has economic and environmental issues- requires high volume of finance and disrupts the local ecosystem. Furthermore to meet the agricultural and national water demands the KSA will invest in a dam within the desert region to increase its available water resources.

‘Solutions’ which applied by KSA is not sustainable due to the overuse of the water. By contrast, Israel/OPT agriculture is (more growingly) invested in drip irrigation system[4], an efficient method of reducing excess (irrigation) water. 

For more information click here  and here. 

Drip-irrigation System: Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories

Drip-irrigation application in an Israeli kibbutz

Drip-irrigation is readily being employed in Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories. It uses micro-scale network of pipes which directly feed water onto the crops. It minimises the excess run off of water which is lost to wind and evaporation. Whilst the concept of drip-irrigation has exited for decades, engineer Simcha Blass allowed it to be developed it into a more effective technology and created his business, Netafim, based on this. It has impacted food supply issues in areas of water pressure and scarcity, in Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories limiting the impact of national water shortages. Netafim has also been applied in Senegal where growing water scarcity was reducing agricultural production. 

It is a readily applicable and sustainable solution, both environmentally & economically viable, to address the water shortages. It focuses on reducing current unsustainable water usage in agricultural practices but also increasing the productivity of water , with the ability to provide local to national/regional benefits, which will then tackle the global water crisis. Predominantly being used at a local level by stakeholders such as farmers in kibbutz, it has gained global accreditation and application. 

To find out more about the technical side of drip-irrigation click here.

Water and Agriculture: Middle East and North Africa

The regional climate of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) hosts 294 million people and is made up of arid and semi-arid climates with variable rainfall. The Middle Eastern history in particular is an important site of early settled agriculture, and origin centre of major cereal crops. Whilst the region’s environmental climate varies, it is predominantly arid or semi- arid, with low rainfall and humidity.The areas of more humidity account for 10% of the land but house majority of the population therefore the concentration of stress on the land can lead to soil degradation. Large scale irrigated areas account for 2% of the regional land, including 17% of the regional population.

Tunisian farmland showing the vast expanse of agricultural land

Agriculture is a vital livelihood source in the Middle East and North Africa region with a population of 294 million, but there is a growing food supply crisis particularly in non-oil producing countries. 84 million of these people are dependent on agriculture. 

The relationship between water and arid agriculture is very fragile, not primarily on the economic and environmental implications but also on the socio-political domain due to the trans-boundary nature of water resources. In Egypt, the seasonal inundation of the Nile Basin reduced farmer’s reliance on the precipitation and allowed localised development around the River Nile. However, other countries within the Basin, such as Ethiopia, suffered drought and famine , which has historically increased vulnerability of the people due to poor management, resulting in displacement and mortality.

When there is water shortages, farmers often make more profit by selling their water (from groundwater supplies), rather than their crops. This occured in Tunisia where irrigation costs increased fourfold in a decade and in India, where costs vs practice clashes.  Similarly unsustainable practices become common in the face of water scarcity in arid landscapes, amplifying the various problems and reducing applicability of solutions. 

Water shortages are likely to have serious implications on the region, where there is growing population numbers and food demands but underdevelopment is prevalent. The MENA region does have some agricultural productivity and is the livelihood of 17 million people. However, due to the inflation of prices, over 50% of the food is imported. 
The lack of self-sufficiency in order to meet food security, increases the vulnerability to variety of hazards which is required to achieve sustainable development and secure livelihoods.

The red highlighted area on the map shows that the MENA region will face physical water scarcity in 2025. This infers that there will be insufficient water available for drinking and hygiene (sanitation)

 Long term social issues associated with water scarcity in this region are likely to lead to increasing poverty and conflict, as many of these countries have poor socio-political economies with widespread underdevelopment. Regarding the Syrian crisis, 2006-2011 saw the country face severe droughts which resulted in widespread poverty and displacement. The lack of infrastructure form the Syrian government also deepened this national issue which added to anti-regime feelings amongst the population. 
It is widely discussed that within the Middle East dwindling water reserves and socio-political hostilities will lead to water wars, incurring human and environmental losses. The predicted impacts of climate change will cause further devastation such as severe variations between arid and semi arid environments and rainfall. Short term and long term issues will implicitly affect the social, economic and environmental domains on which sustainable development is based on. A solution to maintain long term interests will be better management of water resources by all stakeholders involved including the public users, particularly where there is excess use, such as that in the agricultural sector.