The United Nations agricultural agency recently outlined steps that can be taken to improve water sustainability for current and future needs.

In his briefing during an event at UN Headquarters in New York, Pasquale Steduto, UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Regional Strategic Program Coordinator for the Near East and North Africa regions, pointed to the fact that a person needs between two to four liters of water for daily consumption, and for domestic uses (washing, etc.) between 40 to 400 liters per family.

But for food and nutritional needs, the requirement is between 2,000 and 5,000 liters per person, depending on diet, or “roughly one liter per kilo-calorie” he explained.

He also stressed the significance of water for the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

While Sustainable Development Goal 6 calls for ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, water is a key component for other goals including those on poverty, hunger and malnutrition and climate change.

Steduto called for:

Speaking further on the response to tackling water scarcity, the FAO official emphasized the need to augment the availability of water, such as through employing large-scale water harvesting methods (including for agricultural purposes), as well as the use of non-conventional water (such as treated waste water and desalination plants).

Source: UN News Centre