The Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Dr. QU Dongyu, has said changing the way food, fiber, and other agricultural products are produced is crucial to increasing agricultural output.
Dongyu, in an address to mark the day, said with about 70 per cent of all freshwaters going to agriculture, failure to act will have the gravest consequences.
He said “We must not take water for granted: we must work together to manage a finite, precious resource.
“This year’s World Food Day with the theme, “Water is life, water is food. Leave no one behind,” celebrates one of the planet’s most precious resources: water. It’s essential to life on Earth. It covers the majority of the planet’s surface, makes up over 50% of our bodies, helps keep us fed, supports livelihoods and is central to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” he said.
He said governments should implement integrated water resources management through coordinated development and management of water, land, and related resources to
maximize human wellbeing, without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems.
Dongyu however, urged farmers to become agents of water management and be equipped with the right tools to perform that function sustainably.
“Farmers, forest-dependent people, livestock producers and those working in the blue economy of fisheries and aquaculture already manage water on a daily basis,” he revealed.
