摘要：According to the McKinsey report (2009), the world is facing a water scarcity challenge where agriculture is its predominant consumer. It accounts for approximately 3100 billion m3, or 71 percent of global water withdrawals today, and is expected to increase to 4500 billion m3 by 2030. This increase is due to a number of factors: growing population and the ever growing necessity to cater for its food needs, economic growth, the variability of precipitation trends and increase in global temperatures. In addition to the increase in water scarcity, the agricultural sector faces an enormous challenge of producing almost 50% more food by 2030 and doubling production by 2050 (OECD, 2010). The main objective of this proposal is to discuss and shed light on different policies to sustainably manage our water resources in agriculture, which is the greatest consumer of this resource, as a reaction to the increasing stresses on this sector due to growing food demand in the presence of current and predicted climate changes and water management practices.
