VEChannel Event Profile

FAO/Netherlands Conference on Water for Food and Agriculture

OVERVIEW. Water is essential to life on our planet. The availability of sufficient amounts of good quality water is fundamental to all biological processes, for maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystems and for primary and secondary production functions. Natural ecosystems and agriculture are by far the biggest consumers of the Earths freshwater. Competition between them has intensified with human population growth and the expansion of agriculture, to the point where agriculture is often seen as jeopardizing the ecosystems sustainability. But it is equally important to underline that such threatened ecosystems can no longer provide their water purifying and regulating services to sustain agricultural production and livelihoods. Although the competition for water by agriculture and ecosystems is often stressed, focussing on their mutual dependency will present the key to successful implementation of our international commitments.

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