Seminar 1 – Agriculture 

Danger and solutions for a human right to water in rural regions

Rural regions are the pillars of every water supply. At the same time, 70 per cent of freshwater resources are consumed by agriculture. Industrial, irrigation-intensive agriculture in particular is contributing to an increasing shortage of drinking water. On the one hand, through excessive consumption and partly illegal exploitation of groundwater, and on the other hand, through pollution, e.g. by fertilisers and pesticides. Land grabbing for the establishment of large-scale plantations often also means water grabbing for local communities. The responsible governments usually protect the profit interests of investors over the human right to water of local communities. 

 

With regard to agriculture and food security, there are therefore considerable distributional issues. In contrast to the human right to water, equitable access to water beyond personal and domestic needs is only formulated as a recommendation in the SDGs. If hunger and poverty are to be ended, intact ecosystems and access to water must be protected and promoted primarily for smallholder food production.

 

Inputs from:

Prof. Antônio Inácio Andrioli (Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Brazilia)

Mariam Sow (ENDA Pronat, Senegal)

Dr. Maria Tekülve (Officer in the division for “Rural Development, Land Rights, Forests” at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development)

 

Moderation:

Marie von Schlieben and Gertrud Falk (FIAN Germany)

 

Recording of the event:

https://youtu.be/1bs6Vg7V1yc (in German)

https://youtu.be/2NWVaEAMegA (in French)