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The Arab states are facing an emergency water supply crisis that needs to be coordinated with an urgent response providing for a projected 50% reduction in per capita water resources by 2050, said the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva said at a meeting of Arab states in Cairo that the Middle East and North Africa region was suffering more than any other region of problems of water scarcity, desertification and climate change..
In response, countries in the region need to modernize their irrigation techniques and urgently coordinate their water management strategies..
According to the FAO, per capita fresh water in the region already accounts for only 10% of the world average. Agriculture consumes more than 85% of available resources.
"It's already an urgent problem now," Graziano da Silva said in an interview on the sidelines of the conference. The meeting, attended by about 20 countries, is the first of its kind attended by the Ministers of Water and Agriculture. It aims to improve coordination between the various government agencies that have often failed in their joint work..
"It is unreasonable for the region not to have good governance in water and land management," said Da Silva, adding, "In Egypt, there are 32 ministers, probably out of these 32 ministers, 30 of them are in the water and can not afford to coordinate effectively"He said.
Egypt has already started working to improve ministerial coordination, for example by reducing rice growing areas to conserve water.
Da Silva said that he had gone to the agricultural areas of the Nile Delta, where farmers are using centuries-old irrigation techniques, adding: "It's about Wasted water. ""He said.
The Conference was also informed that water scarcity was also leading to the displacement of rural populations and increased reliance on imports of cheap processed foods, which contributed to higher rates of obesity.
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