Feeding a Thirstier World: Could Sustainable Desalination Help Secure the Future of Global Agriculture?

Water and food are inseparable.

Every crop grown, every animal raised and almost every element of the global food supply chain ultimately depends upon access to reliable water. Yet agriculture is increasingly competing for that water with expanding cities, industry, energy generation and growing populations.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), agriculture already accounts for approximately 72% of global freshwater withdrawals. At the same time, around 1.2 billion people live in agricultural areas facing severe water constraints. By 2050, agriculture may need to produce around 50% more food, feed and fibre than it did in 2012.

This presents one of the defining infrastructure questions of the coming decades:

How can the world produce more food when many of the regions responsible for producing it have less reliable access to freshwater?

For Aqua Clear Solutions (ACS), the answer could lie partly in treating water differently — not simply as a finite natural resource to be extracted, but as infrastructure that can increasingly be produced sustainably where it is required.

Agriculture's Growing Water Challenge

Agricultural production has historically depended upon rainfall, rivers, reservoirs and groundwater.

But those traditional sources are coming under increasing pressure.

Climate change is altering rainfall patterns and increasing the frequency and severity of droughts in many regions. Aquifers are being depleted, while growing urban populations and industrial development are creating additional competition for available freshwater.

The scale of the challenge is significant. UN-Water estimates that 3.2 billion people live in agricultural areas experiencing high to very high water shortages or scarcity.

Reduced agricultural production can translate into higher food prices, greater dependence upon imports, disruption to rural economies and, in vulnerable countries, increased food insecurity. Water security is therefore increasingly becoming food security.

Can Desalination Become Part of the Agricultural Water Mix?

Desalination has traditionally been associated with municipal drinking-water supplies, particularly across the Middle East and other water-stressed coastal regions.

Agriculture presents a more complicated proposition.

Conventional desalination can be energy intensive, while agricultural irrigation can require very large quantities of water. This has historically made desalinated water economically challenging for many lower-value crops.

However, the equation is beginning to change.

The FAO now describes desalination as an emerging strategic option for agriculture, particularly in response to climate change and increasing global food-security requirements. It identifies technological improvements, energy efficiency and improved brine management as factors making agricultural desalination increasingly viable, particularly for high-value crops in arid regions.

The question, therefore, should not necessarily be whether desalination can replace conventional agricultural water sources.

It is whether sustainable desalination can become one additional component of a diversified agricultural water strategy.

From Water Extraction to Water Production

This represents an important change in thinking.

Traditional agriculture largely operates within the limits of naturally available freshwater. Rivers, rainfall and aquifers determine where and how much agricultural production can take place. Desalination potentially introduces another option.

Coastal and water-stressed regions could increasingly supplement conventional resources by converting seawater or saline water into usable freshwater. Combined with efficient irrigation, water recycling, storage and modern agricultural technology, this could help create more resilient farming systems. The opportunity is particularly interesting in regions where three conditions exist simultaneously:

• significant solar resources;

• access to seawater or saline water; and

• strategically important agricultural production constrained by freshwater availability.

Large areas of the Middle East, North Africa, Southern Europe and other arid or semi-arid coastal regions potentially fit this profile.

Why Renewable Energy Matters

The relationship between energy and desalination remains fundamental.

Producing freshwater requires energy. If that energy is derived predominantly from fossil fuels, increasing desalination capacity can create additional emissions and expose water production to energy-price volatility.

Integrating renewable energy into desalination therefore has the potential to change both its environmental and economic profile.

Solar energy is particularly relevant because some of the regions experiencing the greatest water stress also possess exceptional solar resources.

The FAO has specifically highlighted reducing the energy intensity and environmental footprint of desalination through renewable energy and improved resource-management strategies as important to its future agricultural application.

This is where technologies designed around renewable energy and water production become increasingly relevant to the agricultural sector.

The Aqua Clear Solutions Approach

Aqua Clear Solutions is developing a new approach to sustainable freshwater production.

Our technology combines solar energy with thermal desalination and heat-recovery technologies to produce distilled freshwater while seeking to minimise dependence upon conventional external energy sources.

For agriculture, this creates an interesting potential proposition.

Rather than viewing desalination purely as a large centralised municipal utility, modular renewable-powered water production could potentially be deployed alongside agricultural developments, irrigation infrastructure and food-production projects.

This could allow freshwater production to become part of the agricultural infrastructure itself.

The objective is not to replace responsible groundwater management, water recycling, efficient irrigation or conservation.

Agriculture in Arid Regions

The potential becomes particularly significant when considering agriculture in arid and semi-arid environments.

Countries across the Middle East and North Africa are investing heavily in food security while simultaneously confronting some of the world's most severe water constraints.

Importing food provides one solution, but it also creates strategic dependence upon international commodity markets, shipping routes and overseas producers.

Increasing domestic agricultural production can strengthen food resilience — but only where sufficient water can be secured sustainably.

Renewable desalination could therefore support a broader transition towards controlled-environment agriculture, precision irrigation, high-value crops and strategically important domestic food production.

It will not be appropriate for every crop or every location. Economics, water chemistry, infrastructure and environmental considerations all matter. Indeed, the FAO notes that desalinated water remains more economically suitable for higher-value agricultural production and that careful management is required.

But in the right circumstances, the strategic value of secure water may extend beyond its simple cost per cubic metre.

Producing More With Less

Technology alone will not solve agricultural water scarcity.

The future will also require better irrigation systems, precision agriculture, drought-resistant crops, wastewater reuse, improved storage and more sophisticated water management.

FAO work already highlights technologies such as solar-powered irrigation and improved irrigation scheduling as important tools for increasing agricultural resilience and water efficiency.

The most compelling future model may therefore combine these technologies.

Imagine an agricultural development where renewable energy powers water production, freshwater is delivered through precision irrigation, water use is continuously monitored, and crops are selected according to local climate and economic conditions.

The result is not simply a desalination project. It is an integrated water-energy-food system.

Water Security Is Food Security

The global agricultural challenge cannot be separated from the global water challenge.

As populations increase, climate conditions become less predictable and competition for freshwater intensifies, countries will increasingly need to reconsider where their agricultural water comes from.

For some regions, conservation and improved efficiency will provide much of the answer.

For others, wastewater reuse, improved storage and groundwater management will be essential.

And for water-stressed coastal and arid regions, sustainable desalination could become an increasingly important part of the equation.

Reliable water supports farmers, communities, employment, domestic food production and national resilience. It can reduce vulnerability to drought and provide governments and agricultural developers with greater certainty when planning long-term food production.

At Aqua Clear Solutions, we believe the next generation of water infrastructure must be sustainable, scalable and designed around the needs of the communities and industries it serves.

Agriculture could become one of its most important applications.

Because ultimately, if we are to feed a growing world, we must first secure the water needed to grow its food.

Aqua Clear Solutions – Water for a Sustainable Future