Rewa Assi is an agricultural engineer from Lebanon - a country that has experienced decades of political and socio-economic crises. Today, climate change is worsening Lebanon’s challenges and has led to heatwaves and droughts, further affecting its water and food security.
Lebanon, like many countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, has faced water scarcity for hundreds of years but the scale of the crisis is now unprecendented, says UNICEF. Eleven out of the 17 most water-stressed countries in the world are in the MENA region. The dependency on water for critical industries such as agriculture has also increased - the region uses 80 per cent of its water supply for agriculture compared to an average of 70 per cent for the rest of the world.
“Lebanon has always been described as a water rich country, in comparison to the other MENA region countries. But if we look closer, and we look at the elements of the water quality, the water resources, the reality is different,” says Rewa.
UNICEF warns that climate change will likely result in a further increase in water demand for agriculture due to reduced rainfall, shorter rain-fed growing seasons and higher temperatures. MENA has the greatest expected economic losses from climate-related water scarcity, estimated at 6 -14 per cent of GDP.
“Our water resources are getting scarce, and our agricultural production is being reduced affecting the economy and this is also affecting the farmers,” adds Rewa who is a strong advocate for sustainable agriculture as an essential solution to water and food insecurity as well as climate change. “When we talk about sustainable agriculture, we are focusing on finding ways to adapt to the changing environment that we are in, [and] to the changing population growth that we are going through.”
The MENA region has some of the highest rates of population growth in the world, with Lebanon and Jordan reported to be in the world’s top five growing populations. And for countries like Lebanon, which is also home to the highest number of refugees per capita in the world, adapting to a changing climate is essential for its water and food security.
“With the increase of population, the demand for food is increasing. So the demand for our resources is also increasing. And when you talk about sustainable agriculture or sustainable practices, it is now not only important, but it's vital because with that increase in the population - we need to secure the right amount of food to feed the planet.”
Sustainable agriculture has been shown to improve agricultural resilience and increase yields in climates where farming has been historically difficult, and even help curb greenhouse gas emissions through practices like soil carbon sequestration. Such practices can not only help in terms of climate adaptation, but can also be an invaluable driver in reducing poverty around the world. Moreover, sustainable water management is central to building the resilience of societies and ecosystems, and to reducing emissions, says UN Water.
“We will be utilizing every tool we have, every resource we have and every potential in order to advance climate justice and water security. And here I would also envision that we will bring more focus on the water sector because if you look at the different sides of climate change, we are looking at water as a common denominator between them all so to respond to this I think we need to be looking at a realistic perspective and a systems thinking approach.”
Learn more about the importance of sustainable agriculture and water management for climate action.
