Presentation - Seventh Roundtable on Financing Agricultural Water - Jean Marc Faurès, Regional Programme Leader (Near East), U.N. FAO

1. Jean-Marc Faurès
FAO Regional Office for the Near
East and North Africa
Innovations in
financing water for
food security and
resilience
The case of
the Arab Region

2. Innovations in financing water for food security and resilience
 The Arab Region: a case of
extreme water scarcity
 The need for new
approaches
 Good investments need to
serve good policies
 Examples of innovations and
initiatives
OUTLINE

3. Innovations in financing water for food security
 The Arab region has the lowest per
capita fresh-water resource availability
of any region in the world (10% of the
world average)
 In the last 40 years, available fresh
water has decreased by two-thirds.
 By 2050, it is expected to decline a
further 50 percent
 7/10 most water scarce countries are
in the Arab region
 Agriculture consumes more than 80%
of water resources
THE ARAB REGION: EXTREME WATER
STRESS
Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a
proportion of renewable freshwater resources (%) 1400

4. Innovations in financing water for food security
Agricultural and food exports as shares in merchandise
exports and of food imports in selected Arab countries
TRADE DEPENDENCY
Cereal import dependency ratio in selected
Arab countries

5. Innovations in financing water for food security
GDP loss from climate change-induced water
scarcity
CLIMATE CHANGE HITTING
HARD
Precipitation Change
mm/Year
<-10
-9.9 - -8
-7.9 - -6
-5.9 - -4
-3.9 - -2
-1.9 - 0
0.1 - 2
2.1 - 4
4.1 - 6
6.1 - 8
8.1 - 10
>10.1
RCP 8.5 – End of Century (2081–
2100)
RCP 8.5 – Mid Century (2046 – 2065)
RCP
8.5
RICCAR
2019
Projected changes in precipitation changes 2046-2065
 WARMER TEMPERATURES
 DECLINING RAINFALL

6. Innovations in financing water for food security
Low public spending for
agriculture

7. Innovations in financing water for food security
TITLE
EVOLVING INVESTMENTS

8. THREE STRATEGIC
DIRECTIONS

9. Innovations in financing water for food security
`
WATER ACCOUNTING:
You don’t manage what you don’t
measure
WAPOR can be freely downloaded and integrated in national
databases / information systems
Systematic quantitative assessment of the
status and trends in water supply, demand,
distribution, accessibility and use in space
and time
Supply side issues:
 The availability of rainfall,
surface water,
groundwater and
unconventional water
resources
 Capacity, and condition of
water supply, storage and
treatment infrastructure
Demand side issues:
 Demands for water of
different users
 Extent to which demands
are satisfied and
sustainable
 Patterns of consumptive
or non-consumptive water
use and return flows

10. Innovations in financing water for food security and resilience
From self-sufficiency
to self reliance
How fruit and vegetables exports
have allowed Morocco to drastically
improve its agri-food trade
balance.
-
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Fruits and Vegetables Exports Cereals Imports Agrifood trade deficit

11. Innovations in financing water for food security and resilience
TITLE
SLIDE
PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP
DIFFICULT BUT NECESSARY
Country Scheme Size [hectares] PPP model
Farming
activity
Project costs Economic details Other details
Morocco Guerdane 10,000 Design Build Operate Cash crops $85 m for infrastructure
Gross irrigation Productivity: $1.0–
$2.0/m3 (for 8,000 m3/ha)
Water pricing: $0.15–$0.20/m3
Mauritania Nakhlet 27
Operation and
management
Rice NA
Gross irrigation productivity $0.030/m3
Irrigation water value $0.015/m3
Price of the water service $0.002/m3
Village scheme/cooperative with 29 farmers
Finances the cropping season with its working
capital.
Jordan Adasiyeh 400
Operation and
management
Citrus NA
Gross irrigation productivity $2.72/m3
Irrigation water value $2.49/m3 (citrus)
Price of the water service $0.021/m3
A successful experiment, whereby quotas were
enforced and well
respected as an alternative to the incumbent
rotation of water distribution
for water management.
Saudi Arabia Business farms 2,000,000 NA Wheat, alfafa NA
Government offered free land as part of a vast
program of highly subsidized irrigated agriculture in
1980, including free groundwater, free credit, and a
guaranteed purchase
price of $1,000/ton of wheat.
Program covered eight highly capitalistic business
farmers;
medium-sized farms, and traditional Bedu farms.
Egypt Dina Farm 4,400 Concession
wheat, berseem
clover, alfalfa, corn,
banana, tomato,
potato, other
vegetables
Gross irrigation productivity $0.32/m3
(banana)
Though an entirely private investment, the
government of Egypt, provides a partly free
groundwater supply at an estimated average of
20,000 m3/ha/ year

12. Regional water scarcity initiative
 LAS + Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco,
Oman, Palestine, Tunisia, UAE, Yemen
 Policy: Joint Ministerial Council on Water and
Agriculture (LAS)
 Water Accounting for Strategic Planning of Water
resources
 Water conflict resolution (example of Yemen)
 Groundwater governance (Morocco)
 Investing in water harvesting (Jordan)
 Decentralised water monitoring (Lebanon)
FAO’s Regional Water Scarcity initiative is a driving force for high-level policy
convergence and action across the region, combining technical know-how
with innovation, policy dialogue and sound investment advice.
SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR A WATER-SCARCE REGION

13. Innovations in financing water for food security and resilience
 Not enough investments in
water in the Arab Region to
address current and future
challenges
 A new generation of
investments must accompany
a new generation of policies
 New focus, more complex
investments addressing
multiple objectives
 Innovative approaches are
being applied and deserve to
be scaled-up
CONCLUSION

14. THANK YOU