South Africa faces a stand-off between industry and agriculture over water, Agricultural Business Chamber CEO John Purchase said at the Africa Energy Indaba in Sandton, Johannesburg, on Tuesday.
There is already a tussle between farmers and mining companies over water resources in the new coal mining area of the Waterberg, and there has been unhappiness over the water allocated to national power utility Eskom’s new Medupi coal-fired power station.
Industrial Development Council senior environmental specialist Lisa Pearce said 70% of available water resources globally went to agriculture, 20% to industry and 10% to domestic consumers, but people often forgot that 75% of the water used by industry went into energy production.
Energy production and pumping water are both "very water intensive" and food production depends on both, she said.
Mr Purchase said the Department of Water Affairs’ proposed National Water Resources Strategy made it clear that industry would in future be allocated a larger slice of South Africa’s available water resources. Agriculture is allocated more than 60% of the country’s water resources.
The economic growth obtainable from the use of one kilolitre of water in industry was higher than that of agriculture, Mr Purchase said.
"It will happen whether we like it or not ... South Africa will have to start looking north of the border (to countries that) are more efficient in terms of food production," he said.
The nexus between water, food and energy is troubled, and agriculture globally is drawing more water than is sustainable, said Nestlé SA economics and international relations vice-president Herbert Oberhänsli.
"We are between 40% and 60% overdrawn, and agriculture will the sector most affected by the (coming) water shortage," Mr Oberhänsli said.
South Africa is a water-scarce country, and by 2005 more than 95% of its available fresh water was already allocated. It has half the global average annual rainfall.
Mr Purchase said most of Africa was "pretty food insecure", although the situation was improving. South Africa and Botswana, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Food Security Index, were "good performers". The continent has gone from being a net food exporter up to about 1980 to being an importer of even basic foods such as grains, corn, wheat, rice, beef, pork and dairy products.
"Africa has about 1-billion people now. What will we do in 86 years when we have 3.6-billion?" Mr Purchase asked. READ MORE
Source: BusinessDay Live #IFAMAFRICA
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