Ecosystems for water and food security

With a growing global population expected to reach 9.1 billion in 2050 and the increasing impacts of climate change, sustainable use of water and ecosystems for food security is a great challenge. it is important to gain a better understanding of the functioning of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and their interrelation with the availability and quality of water. this calls for a shift in the management of ecosystems and the water within them for food security. agricultural production systems have to be recognized and managed as a landscape of interlinked agroecosystems with the potential for multiple functions climate change impacts on ecosystems and thereby on water and food security are highly uncertain, and most forecasting scenarios suggest greater vulnerability to damage, reduced ecosystem services, and undermined resilience. Building resilience to climate change and other shocks needs to be mainstreamed into agricultural planning to ensure food security targets. this is especially important for vulnerable populations with low adaptive capacity: poor women and marginal social groups in geographical areas at risk, with limited resources, poor social networks, and low access to education, health care and other services.

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