Every bite of food we eat has a hidden ingredient: water. It’s not only needed for your cup of tea or to boil your pasta. Water grows our crops, raises our livestock and keeps our food system moving. But our water systems are under threat.
Our global freshwater use has increased by almost 500% over the past hundred years, and 72% of it is used for agricultural production every year. It’s enough to make 8.23 trillion mugs of coffee based on a 350ml cup! But it’s not only over-consumption or unsustainable use that’s putting our water under threat – climate change and pollution are having a huge impact on water availability and quality, putting the food that’s on our plate at risk, too.
On World Water Day, as the UN spotlights the importance of glacier preservation, it’s time to confront the bigger picture. The water that feeds our food is facing multiple threats, with melting glaciers, intensifying drought and pollution creating an unsustainable and volatile water cycle.
Melting point: how rapid glacier melt is affecting food production
Though glaciers may feel like something that only exist in the Arctic, they are natural lifelines. Holding almost three-quarters of our planet’s freshwater, almost 2 billion people rely on glacial meltwater for drinking and hydropower. Glaciers also feed some of the world’s most important river systems and provide a steady supply of water for agriculture. These reserves are shrinking fast due to climate change.
Even in the best-case scenario, where global warming is limited to 1.5°C, half of the world’s glaciers could still completely disappear by 2100. But the reality is likely to be far worse. Our everyday choices – including things like the food we eat and the way we produce it – are pushing us off track.
Rapid glacial melt poses a multifaceted threat to global agriculture, impacting water availability, crop yields, and food prices. The Himalayas for example, often called ‘the Third Pole’, hold the world’s third-largest store of glacier ice and provide water for around 129 million farmers. In India, where the UK sources over half of its imported basmati rice, meltwater keeps irrigation systems running. “But as glaciers shrink, water availability becomes increasingly unpredictable,” WRAP’s Water Specialist Emily Heslop explains. “It’s forcing farmers to extract more groundwater, a resource that’s already under immense pressure.”
The impact extends far beyond agriculture. Glaciers sustain unique ecosystems and hold cultural and spiritual significance for many communities around the world. Their loss will permanently alter landscapes and put millions of people at risk of losing their livelihoods.
“Glaciers are among the most sensitive parts of our water system, and once they’re lost, they’re gone,” says Mark Perrin, WRAP’s Water Programme Lead. “As we confront this reality, the food and drink sector has a critical role to play to ensure that the water we depend on for production is sustainably managed – now and for future generations.”
Rapid glacier melt is a devastating result of climate change, but it is just one of the challenges affecting water for food production due to rising temperatures.
Dried up: how drought is threatening our farms
While drought can be a result of natural weather patterns, climate change is contributing to a shift in rainfall due to disruptive rising temperatures leading to heavy rainfall in some areas, but drought in others – putting pressure on food supply.
In South Africa’s Western Cape, a key supplier of fruit for the UK, severe drought has strained water resources in recent years, affecting crop yields, availability and price stability. Through the UK Food and Drink Pact’s Water Roadmap, WRAP works in partnership with WWF South Africa to clear thirsty alien vegetation that consume vast amounts of water in three fruit-growing areas and biodiversity hotspots like the Cape Floristic Region.
As Water Specialist Sean Herd-Hoare explains, by removing invasive plants and restoring natural vegetation, water availability can be restored for food production, biodiversity, and critically, for people and communities. “But we must work collectively across the value chain – with farmers, businesses and people – to tackle drought pressures. Managing water at the catchment scale will make sure there’s a secure and sustainable supply.”
Although the drought in the Western Cape has been managed for now, the trend for drier conditions is predicted to continue and will result in significant risks for producers in the region and the communities that surround them.
Even when water is accessible within these fragile ecosystems and catchments, its quality can sometimes be compromised by pollution, posing challenges for safe use and consumption.
Polluted waterways: the human impact on water quality
Diffuse water pollution is one of the biggest threats to water quality and biodiversity. It’s typically a result of our food production caused by things like fertilisers, pesticides and livestock waste running off from agricultural fields and seeping into rivers, lakes and groundwater. No single river in England has been found to be in ‘good’ health, and sadly, humans are the reason why.
Many of the Water Roadmap Collective Action Projects are taking action to reduce diffuse river pollution both overseas and in the UK. Our new partnership with The Nature Recovery Project will allow us to build on an existing project in Norfolk, covering almost the entire sea-to-source length of the River Ouse to tackle the slurry that has leaked from intensive farming into the waterway.
“East Anglia contributes nearly a third of the UK's total crop production, including almost half of the UK’s homegrown vegetables, and the Great Ouse is home to Ramsar wetlands, European Special Protection Areas and Special Areas of Conservation, and Sites of Special Scientific Interest,” says Amy Wernham, WRAP’s Senior Water Specialist. “But these catchment habitats have been heavily modified over recent years and are experiencing over abstraction and pollution. Climate smart nature-based solutions have the power to improve water management in high-risk areas, increase biodiversity and drive a more sustainable food system - as well as mitigating against climate change.”
Not only is agriculture deteriorating our waterways, but the food system itself is a major contributor to climate change. Around 30% of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions come from the food and drink industry, resulting in rising temperatures that are contributing to the water crisis. It is the perfect – and terrifying – storm.
It’s a growing crisis. What can businesses do to protect our water for food supply?
Glacial melt, drought, and water pollution are all connected by a common thread: our food system. The way we produce food is pushing our water resources to the brink and accelerating climate change.
Food & drink businesses must take action to stop this – not just by improving water stewardship to secure availability and reduce pollution, but in cutting greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to rising temperatures and catastrophic effects on our water systems.
The UK Food and Drink Pact provides a clear framework for businesses to collaborate and take action against greenhouse gas emissions and the water crisis. By joining, members can access expert guidance, collective projects and impactful solutions to tackle these urgent sustainability challenges caused by and facing the food and drink sector.
This World Water Day, let’s move beyond awareness and take action to protect the water that feeds our food. Join the UK Food & Drink Pact today