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Sammanfattning

Agriculture involves the exploitation of land, water and other natural resources for food production. It is an important economic activity and represents the source of livelihood for farmers and farm workers. With increasing human populations and lifestyle changes, food demand has increased, driving a transition from rainfed systems to irrigated agriculture. While the expansion of irrigated agriculture has increased productivity and enhanced food security worldwide, it has been accompanied by the intensification of water extraction and use: currently, agricultural production accounts for roughly 70% of the global water withdrawals. This has contributed to environmental degradation through groundwater depletion, reduced streamflow, and loss of biodiversity. The competition for water between human use and the environment has therefore become a central issue in agriculture, leading to inextricable linkages between food and water security. These insights are critical for addressing the challenges and the consequences associated with the intensification of agriculture and approaches to water management, and how they might impact our ability to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Considerable investments in water infrastructure have contributed to changes to the natural courses of rivers and the hydrologic cycle in general. As a result, beyond crop production and water use, decisions on agriculture can affect other components of the human-nature system in unintended ways in the long-term. For example, increased availability of water through storage or access to groundwater resources can have the net effect of generating a false sense of protection in people, which helps to fuel a further increase in water demand and increased vulnerability to drought. These unintended consequences arise from long-term changes in human preferences in the tradeoffs, for example, between water for humans and water for the environment, between flood risk and drought risk, and more generally, between short-term benefits and long-term consequences, as we illustrate in this chapter.

Nyckelord

Agricultural systems; Emergent phenomena; Food production; Livelihoods; Trade; Water use

Publicerad i

Titel: Coevolution and Prediction of Coupled Human-Water Systems : A Sociohydrologic Synthesis of Change in Hydrology and Society
Utgivare: Elsevier

SLU författare

UKÄ forskningsämne

Miljö- och naturvårdsvetenskap
Jordbruksvetenskap
Oceanografi, hydrologi, vattenresurser

Publikationens identifierare

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-41736-8.00009-9
  • ISBN: 978-0-443-41736-8

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/144916