Leading scientists have stated that the world’s population may have to reduce its meat consumption dramatically and switch to an almost completely vegetarian diet over the next 40 years, in order to avoid disastrous water shortages.
The analysis, published by Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) in Feeding a Thirsty World: Challenges and Opportunities for a Water and Food Secure Future showed that “there will not be enough water available on current croplands to produce food for the expected population in 2050 if we follow current trends and changes towards diets common in Western nations (3,000 kcal produced per capita, including 20 per cent of calories produced coming from animal proteins)”. The scientists claim that there will be “just enough water, if the proportion of animal based foods is limited to 5 per cent of total calories and considerable regional water deficits can be met by a well organised and reliable system of food trade”.
In other words, humans currently derive about 20% of their protein from animal-based foods, but this may need to drop to just 5% to feed the extra 2 billion people predicted to be alive by 2050.
The report was released for the start of the annual world water conference in Stockholm where 2,500 politicians, UN bodies, non-governmental groups and researchers from 120 countries are currently meeting to address global water supply problems.
According to the International Livestock Research Institute (IRLI), 45% of all land on Earth is used for livestock and feed production. Since the production of animal protein-rich food requires five to 10 times more water than a vegetarian diet, and with 70% of all available water currently being used in agriculture, adopting a vegetarian diet is one way to increase the amount of water available to grow more food. Other options include increasing trade between countries in food surplus and countries in deficit, and reducing waste.