FAO warns over our world's declining water resources

(Vatican Radio) The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) warns that two out of every three people in the world could be living under stressed water conditions in 10 years. The warning came as the UN marked the World Day to Combat Desertification on June 17th.  FAO said land degradation and desertification undercut human rights, starting with the right to food and water. Nora Berrahmouni is an expert on Forests and Drylands at FAO and she spoke to Susy Hodges.

Listen to the interview with Nora Berrahmouni, Forestry Officer at FAO: 

Berrahmouni said the projected statistics relating to the problem of desertification and land degradation are “very scary” as they threaten to reduce global food production and have a negative impact on development goals aimed at reducing hunger and ending poverty, unless action is taken now to address this "very very serious" problem.  

Asked whether droughts, such as that being experienced by North and South Korea or California, are going to become much more common, Berrahmouni conceded that this is “true” because of a decline in water resources, mainly due to unsustainable land use but also because of climate change. At the same time, she pointed out that despite the “scary” statistics, there are ways we can halt land degradation and desertification and help rehabilitate all the degraded land and she said there are “good practices” already taking place in some areas of our world.