Page 43 - FAO-IPCC Expert meeting on climate change

Adaptation and resilience in food and land-based ecosystems
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4.2 Adaptation to water scarcity and equitable access to water
While they are context specific, there are many adaptation options for water scarcity. On the supply side, water provision can be increased by investing in water harvesting and storage infrastructures. Opportunities also lie in better waste management practices and water productivity (“more crop per drop”). Boosting water use efficiency, however, may be counterproductive if the same amount of water is consumed simply because there is more of it (Jevons paradox). Therefore, a combination of raising water productivity and implementing good governance is required to
cap the total use of water for irrigation. Since water has multidimensional properties, no single policy or economic stance will respond to the issue of water scarcity. The use of market instruments to manage water demand is still hotly debated and the challenge remains how to trade and price water both equitably and sustainably. The demand and supply of scarce water requires an interdisciplinary approach where both economic and non-economic instruments have a role to play. Moreover, there is a strong need for political will and inclusive governance, given the vital nature of water and the rising competition for a resource that is becoming scarce.
An important principle in water scarcity policy is the equitable distribution of the resource among primary users.
The lack of sufficient water is exacerbated by climate change, calling for an institutional framework for its equitable allocation, especially in instances of drought and acute water shortage. Iglesias and colleagues39 have developed such a framework that incorporates the need to assess climatic hazards and attempts to understand the underlying measures of vulnerability (i.e. resilience and adaptive capacity). Many overlapping policies will affect the ways in which drought and aridity are tackled, and in the case of structural water imbalance − in terms of supply and demand − the outcome may exacerbate desertification. A case in point is Lake Urmia in Iran. Once this framework becomes operational,
other users including non-agricultural users, will need to be taken into account. Various indicators, therefore, are applied to include the drought vulnerability index (e.g. Mediterranean countries) and the social capacity to respond to drought. The framework distinguishes between permanent measures (i.e. water policy, technology) and those that are implemented during pre-alert (i.e. voluntary) and alert situations (i.e. including the necessary economic instruments and tariffs) required for quick and effective water distribution in an emergency situation. The methodology was applied to examine the distribution of water for various users in Iran.
Permanent measures include the value of information, technology (e.g. desalinization), aquifer management, policy (some are being developed in Europe to incorporate drought management into climate change) and economic instruments such as Spain’s efficient water markets, to be replicated in Jordan. Overall, the critical steps necessary
to develop a strategic plan in response to scarce water begin with: the establishment of a multidisciplinary team; evaluation of the risks and vulnerabilities; and identification of priority measures and how to include them into policy- making. Throughout the process, it is essential to engage actively with stakeholders, water users and other beneficiaries in order to achieve strategy objectives.
The Adaptation of African Agriculture initiative, launched by Morocco at COP22 in Marrakesh, aims to develop projects that combine the sustainable management of soil resources (i.e. improved soil fertility; increased soil carbon sequestration; conversion of annual crops into fruit trees and agroforestry); efficient water management (i.e. using proven methods); climate risk management (i.e. including agriculture insurance and early warning systems); and access by small farmers to best practices in agro-ecology and to finance.
4.3 Adaptation to pollination loss
The preservation and protection of pollination services under climate change is critical for global food security. As it
is expected climate change will create a mismatch between pollinators and fruit trees and orchards, a consideration
is to integrate natural areas (i.e. non-disturbed and non-tilled) within crop landscapes, encompassing the trees (i.e. ecological intensification). Natural areas also are necessary for the nesting of wild pollinators. Ecological intensification can prove to be economically viable as, for example, in Canada where the production yield of canola has increased and profits have improved by incorporating 30 percent of uncultivated land (where pollinators could thrive) with a strip up to 750 metres around the edges of the field.
Iglesias et al. (2008).
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FAO-IPCC Expert meeting on climate change, land use and food security