Cross posted by www.unwater.org

There are 7 billion people to feed on the planet today and another 2 billion are expected to join by 2050. Statistics say that each of us drinks from 2 to 4 litres of water every day, however most of the water we ‘drink’ is embedded in the food we eat.

When a billion people in the world already live in chronic hunger and water resources are under pressure we cannot pretend the problem is ‘elsewhere’. Coping with population growth and ensuring access to nutritious food to everyone call for a series of actions we can all help with:

follow a healthier, sustainable diet;
consume less water-intensive products;
reduce the scandalous food wastage: 30% of the food produced worldwide is never eaten and the water used to produce it is definitively lost!

produce more food, of better quality, with less water.

 

Background:
An international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The United Nations General Assembly responded by designating 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day. Each year, World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater.

World Water Day 2012 is coordinated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Visit www.unwater.org and learn more about why water is so important for us. A wide selection of videos, animations and other documents provide detailed information and eye-opening facts.


Graphic Copyright www.unwater.org