Water Challenges — Made Worse by Rising Temperatures — Are Threatening the World’s Crops

By Frida Garza

A new report finds that one-quarter of the world’s crops are grown in places facing high levels of water stress, water unreliability, or both. The analysis comes from the research nonprofit World Resources Institute, or WRI, and highlights the difficulty of growing enough food to meet rising demand on a warming planet. 

One out of every 11 people in the world are hungry, meaning they don’t get enough food to maintain basic health, according to a recent United Nations report. The water challenges outlined in WRI’s latest research could potentially contribute to increased levels of food insecurity, especially as global temperatures continue to rise.

The report looks at both irrigated crops, in which water is transferred from reservoirs to cropland, and rainfed crops, which receive water through precipitation. The authors relied on WRI’s existing global water risk data and compared it to crop production data from the International Food Policy Research Institute. 

Analyzing both sets of data, the report authors found that both irrigated and rainfed crops face complications when it comes to water access. For example, about 60 percent of irrigated crops by weight come from regions of the world facing high or extremely high levels of water stress. Water stress refers to heightened competition over water resources; it is considered high when 40 percent or more of an area’s local water supply is spoken for by agriculture, energy, industry, and household use.

Areas facing high levels of water stress require robust water management and governance, said Sam Kuzma, one of the report authors. The problem, she said, stems partly from a common tendency to take water for granted and treat it like an endlessly renewable, on-demand resource. “Because we don’t put a value on water, you can irrigate and not pay much at all for the water that you’re using,” said Kuzma, who runs the water data program at WRI. “That means we can be pretty reckless with how we’re growing and in what environments. That’s why you see alfalfa being grown in the desert.”

The majority of the world’s irrigated crops — 72 percent — are grown in just 10 countries, including Brazil, China, India, and the United States, according to WRI. These crops include staples like rice, wheat, and corn that make up a good chunk of the world’s calories. 

The high rate of water stress in areas that grow irrigated crops spells trouble for global food security. India, for example, is a major agricultural producer and the world’s largest exporter of rice. The country faces significant water risks; about one-fourth of its total crop production comes from areas using more water than can be naturally replenished, according to WRI’s analysis. Kuzma noted that this can lead to groundwater depletion in parts of the country that rely on a source of water that “just isn’t going to be there forever” if current usage rates continue. “If that’s a key part of our global food supply chain and we no longer have the water to create those commodities, then sorry, everyone is impacted,” she added.