Biography:

Theib Y. Oweis, PhD Eng.

Currently, the director of the Integrated Water and Land Management Program at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), based in Amman, Jordan. Since 1991, joined ICARDA and worked in several capacities as scientist, principal scientist, research team leader and research manager. Earlier, joined the University of Jordan, in Amman, as an assistant professor in irrigation and drainage engineering and in the 70's worked for Dar Al Handash Consultants (Shaer and Partners) as a field irrigation engineer in south Yemen. Received his BSc. In Agriculture from Aleppo University in Syria in 1968-1972 and MSc and PhD degrees in Agricultural and Irrigation Engineering from Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA in 1979-1983.

Has over 30 years of experience in international research and education, development and human capacity building and in the management of water for agriculture especially in water scarce dry environments. Author of over 200 refereed journal publications, books/book chapters and conference proceedings in the areas of water use efficiency, supplemental irrigation, water harvesting, water productivity, deficit irrigation, salinity and the management of scarce water resources. Contributed to the advocacy and promoting, at the local, international and global levels, of the concepts of water productivity and water savings practices in agriculture. Worked or managed research teams in 40 countries and visited 65 countries for work related matters.

Abstract:

"Managing scarce water in agriulture with climate change; A need for paradigm change"

Many regions of the world, especially the dry areas, experience increasing water scarcity. In West Asia and North Africa (WANA) per capita annual water availability is crossing redlines in many country. This situation is worsening with climate change (CC). The latest IPCC report indicates that this region will likely have less precipitation and more frequent droughts in addition to the rise in temperature and CO2 levels. A drop in water resources accompanied with rapid population growth will further aggravate the situation. As the region will need more food, it is expected that the imports of strategic crops will double in the coming 20-25 years. This will impact food security and threaten the ecosystems services, especially agriculture, and could potentially lead to socio-political instability and conflicts. Agriculture, the largest consumer of water, receives a progressively smaller proportion of the available water resources - while food demand continues to rise. It is therefore essential for water-scarce countries to produce more food with less water "more crop per drop".

Generally, conventional approaches are used to cope with increasing water scarcity and climate change in agriculture. This is often done without proper analysis of the climate change parameter at the local level and their impact on the resources, crops and cropping systems. Furthermore, coping strategies often respond to climate "variability" rather than climate "change". Current strategies include; increasing crop yields; investing in modern irrigation systems and managing agricultural water demand. These approaches have major limitations. Higher crop yields generally require more water; modernizing irrigation systems, although increase irrigation efficiency, may not result in substantial and real water savings at the system level; and pricing water for irrigation proved not to be feasible in many countries, at least at the sociopolitical level.

In water-scarce areas under CC impacts it is essential, before implementing coping strategies, to properly downscale CC data at the local level; model the impacts of changing climate parameters on various agricultural components; and design the coping interventions to address those impacts. In areas where water is more limiting than land, the focus must shift from increasing land productivity to maximizing water productivity. Increasing water productivity can form a systemic response to climate change impacts on agriculture. Research has shown that it is possible to double water productivity in the next 20 years. This is equivalent to doubling available water resources for agriculture. However, this will require strategic changes in cropping patterns, irrigation approaches, crop improvement, policies and institutions; and greater investment in research and capacity development.

Water productivity can be increased by increasing the productivity per unit of water consumed; by reducing non-beneficial water depletion; and by reallocating water among uses. In agriculture several practices can increase water productivity including improving crop water management and technologies such as deficit irrigation, supplemental irrigation and water harvesting. Simultaneously, countries may cultivate highly water productive crops while importing crops with high water demand and lower water productivity. Those however, need to be applied in the context of climate change with modifications responding to local conditions. Policy makers must institutionalize climate change research in all matters of life especially in food production and water access and develop coping strategies based on sound scientific approaches.

Keywords: Climate change, water productivity; land productivity; water policies; water scarcity