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Ce jeu montre à quel point il est difficile d’assurer une distribution efficace de l’eau en Asie centrale.

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Water for Food – Anti-hunger, pro-Earth

Energie

Producing food without water is inconceivable. Food security is totally dependent on the availability of sufficient water for farming purposes. However, unfortunately, agriculture’s use of water is still extremely inefficient, not to mention the pollution caused by fertilisers and pesticides and their impact on consumption. So, the SDC’s programmes stress improving farming practices and protecting water-producing ecosystems.

Key facts
  «Our concern is to have access to drinking water, both to avoid disease and for our market gardens. At present, we have access to drinking water, but we still need water for market gardening. Here, access to land is not a great problem for women. We women pay our own way with our income, we help our husbands if necessary, we look after our children and pay their studies with the money we earn from our crops. Development of facilities will help boost our production.»

Korotoumou Kante, woman farmer from Mali and Secretary of the Coordination of Women’s Associations and NGOs (CAFO)

Managing water will be crucial for achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) No. 1, namely halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 – a Goal which concerns roughly 800 million inhabitants of rural areas. By 2025, three billion people will be living in regions subject to water stress, and 14 countries will have water shortages, as the combined result of population growth and changing eating habits that generate increased demand for food.

Given the fast-growing depletion of resources, developing coordination mechanisms for using and managing water is a must. So, even in developing countries, it is quite right that sectors such as peri-urban farming and industry, which consume large amounts of water and derive substantial profits from it, should pay a fair price for water as a production factor like any other.

Striking a balance between food production and protecting resources
In countries where farming and natural resources are the keystone of economic growth, it is vital to strike a balance between production and protection. The income earned and appropriate measures make it possible to improve farming techniques and preserve water-producing ecosystems.

They say that small streams make big rivers. Experience has shown that sustainable management of catchment areas and improved irrigation techniques are all it takes to significantly raise the water table in less than five years. Productivity per unit of water is tripled or even quadrupled and, if pollution is avoided, farming will moreover leave good-quality water for other sectors.

The SDC’s focus – Improving water use and management

By working with small businesses and specific social groups, Swiss cooperation helps to reduce poverty in rural areas where 80% of the world’s undernourished population live:

  • With its support for sustainable rain-fed farming, the SDC maintains intensive involvement in arid and semi-arid regions, where soil covers are used to prevent evaporation.
  • SDC activities also focus on small-scale irrigation systems, with methods adapted to the local context and to demand, for instance multiple-use water systems. Such methods have the advantage of being affordable for small farmers and of fitting into the overall subsistence system.
  • The SDC also backs agricultural research into water and helps strengthen water-user associations in rural and peri-urban areas through training. The practical experience gleaned from programmes and projects provides input for essential, tripartite national and international water-policy dialogue between governments, the private sector and civil society.

Contact: water.initiatives@deza.admin.ch

Additional Information and Documents