FAO says that agriculture is key to meet the needs of water and energy

Agriculture is key to meet the future needs of water and energy, but you need a comprehensive planning and greater attention to the small farmers, reported today in a statement the United Nations food and Agriculture (FAO).

When the pressure on water resources of the planet reach unsustainable levels in one increasingly greater number of regions, is no longer possible the attitude of "everything remains the same" in the face of economic development and the management of natural resources warned.

Agriculture will be key to the implementation of sustainable management of water, he recalled the Organization of the United Nations on the occasion of an international meeting on water, energy and food security which takes place in Bonn (Germany).

In statements on the occasion of the Conference Bonn Nexus 2011, the Deputy Director-General of FAO for natural resources, Alexander Mueller, said that "the challenges" u000afood security, economic development and energy security in the context of the current population growth will require a refurbished and overhauled for the agricultural development attention.

Agriculture "can and must become the backbone of the green economy of tomorrow," asserted.

The Bonn Conference has been convened by the German Federal Ministry for cooperation and development as a step prior to the Conference of the UN "Rio 20" on sustainable development in June 2012.

The German event brings together the main actors of economic development, the management of natural resources and environmental policies and sectors of food and energy to explore new approaches to manage the interconnections between water resources, energy and food.

La FAO calculates that to feed a world population is expected to reach nearly 9 billion people in 2050, production u000aWFP will have to increase in a 70 percent

Global energy demand will increase by 36 per cent by 2035 and competition for water between agriculture, cities and industry will intensify as a result, noted.

"Has time to stop treating food, water and energy as separate issues and meet the challenge of balancing the needs of these three areas, intelligently exploiting synergies and seeking opportunities to reduce waste and identify ways to share and reuse water, rather than compete for it", said Mueller.

According to Mueller, agriculture is located in the Centre of the "agua-energía link - foods".

"When begins to raise the way how we are going to provide food, water, light, heating and other services and products to 9 billion people, it is clear that agriculture is possibly the axis of" u000a"everything", he added.

If we have political will and are ahead - he added-, we can convert to agriculture in the engine of the green economy of the future." "Climatologically intelligent farming systems that make efficient use of resources such as water, land and energy, should become the basis of the agricultural economy of tomorrow".

According to the Organization of the United Nations, while bioenergy offers a potential of cleaner energy source, the production of crops for biofuels should be in such a way that promotes rural growth and provide employment opportunities to the small farmers and rural workers, while minimizing environmental impact.

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