FAO estimates that developing countries will need to double agricultural production by 2050 to meet food demand. Given the finite availability of freshwater and the limited opportunities for expanding arable land, levels of agricultural production to meet demand will be maintained essentially by intensifying current water and land use. Water scarcity already affects more than 40 percent of the world’s population, while some 25 percent of the population depends on land already degraded – degradation is estimated to cost USD 40 billion a year in lost productivity. These challenges and resulting competition over resources will be further exacerbated by increasing demand for biofuel production and anticipated impacts of climate change.

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