The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is using ‘World Water Week’ to highlight the negative impact of water scarcity on food production. The relationship between water and food security is the topic of this year’s event organised by the Stockholm International Water Institute, taking place from the 26-31 August in Stockholm. It will bring together scientists, politicians, the private sector and civil society. According to IFAD, the link becomes particularly evident in the Near East and North Africa region, where just one per cent of global freshwater resources are located. The lack of water is limiting the potential for local food production, with irrigated agriculture already accounting for 85 per cent of total freshwater withdrawal there. “Water scarcity will become the main constraint to socio-economic development in the region, which is why it is crucial to work on integrated adaptation strategies”, said Khalida Bouzar, Director of the Near East, North Africa and Europe Division at IFAD. Benedikt Haerlin of the Foundation on Future Farming has also underlined the need to adapt the entire food production process to available water quantities. “The decisive point is actually how we maintain the water in the ground and in plants throughout the ecosystem before it evaporates”, he said in an interview with Deutsche Welle. Haerlin warned against monocultures as this agricultural practice preserves little water in the ground, thus having a negative effect on the global water cycle.