For most businesses, the key sustainability goals revolve around net zero. Not so in agribusiness. Here they have a more pressing issue – water, or rather, the lack of it. Water scarcity is reaching critical levels in some of the world’s most important agribusiness regions. With experts predicting catastrophic economic and humanitarian repercussions, the pressure is on to find a solution.
According to a report from Inmarsat, water scarcity has become the number one priority in agribusiness – ahead of net zero goals. Their concerns are well-founded.
The S&P’s Global Sustainability Index, meanwhile, states that water stewardship will become a major priority over the coming decades as food producers around the world face serious water shortages. Around 60% of the world’s food supply comes from crops that depend entirely on rainfall.
Extreme weather events and accelerating climate change are exacerbating the issue. Data from Lloyds warns that water and food shortages could cost the global economy $50 trillion every year.
Its study charts a combination of factors including the rise of extreme weather events such as wildfires, droughts, extreme freezes, and rising sea levels, as contributing to a global water crisis. Each of these events alone will have multiple impacts across many different territories, but their increased frequency gives communities less time than ever to recover.
Across the world, people are already suffering. Data from the World Resources Institute shows 25 countries currently suffering from extreme water stress – meaning they use more than 80% of their water stock for irrigation, livestock, industry and domestic consumption.
The worst affected were the Middle East and Africa where 83% of the population are exposed to water stress. In South Asia, that figure is 74%. By 2050, the report expects the number of people to increase by a further billion even under the more optimistic global warming strategies.
Some of the worst affected countries, such as Vietnam, are imposing regulations limiting the amount of water farmers can use. Rice growers, with their limited access to water, are having to find new ways to balance market demands.
The implications of this are profound – for people, the planet, and profits in the sector. Agriculture uses 70% of the world’s freshwater supplies making it the largest consumer of water. As demands to feed the world’s population grow, global water supplies are buckling.
Water conservation and sustainability should be top priorities, but any solution faces a familiar, but hard-to-beat foe – money. Farmers across the world are struggling to increase yields and maintain profitability. In the face of a short-term cash flow crisis, longer-term issues such as sustainability and water conservation take a back seat.
Any solution, therefore, has to work based on people, profit, and the planet. Fortunately, new technology and next-generation sustainable agribusiness practices can not only transform conservation efforts but boost profits and create investment opportunities.
“Sustainability in agriculture is about much more than just growing crops. It’s about developing new practices that conserve soil and precious water resources,” explains agribusiness expert Aristov Aleksandr. “The health of agribusiness as an industry and the very world we live in depends on sustainable practices that work within the world’s resources.”
New technology helps businesses control costs and reduce water consumption by generating enhanced data insights and targeting water directly where it needs to go. Micro sprinklers, for example, can reduce any excess water use. Drip irrigation can target water directly at the root reducing waste through evaporation or run off delivering water savings of between 20 and 60%.
Drones and satellite imagery can provide a bird’s eye view of crops giving farmers a more accurate view of conditions, crop health, and water needs.
Connected technology and the Internet of Things can allow for big data analytics on a scale never previously conceived. Moisture sensors in the soil can prevent over-irrigation. They can relay information about water content in the soil directly to a main dashboard and trigger automatic irrigation that ensures the soil is only water when needed.
These sensors can form part of a smart monitoring system consisting of multiple connected devices gathering sensory and image data analytics to provide precise real-time information about the state of crops and to optimize the use of resources such as water.
Data generated by this network can be analyzed using AI and machine learning to extract insights such as the early detection of diseases, climate risks, irrigation requirements and ideal planting times. It can examine information from satellites, forecast weather, and account for multiple variables in soil conditions, water use, and weather systems. And it can do all this in real-time, giving managers an instantaneous, comprehensive view of all conditions in their fields. With all this information at their fingertips, they can make better and more effective decisions.
For example, farmers can view all their key data on software. At the touch of a button, they can vary the amount of water devoted to one part of the farm or another. They can see any new weather systems coming in, and get early warnings of potential diseases.
At a time when farmers are having to battle the effects of an increasingly unpredictable climate and challenging economic and regulatory landscape, technology can help them adopt agile and proactive strategies to dramatically reduce water usage.
“Everyone in the agribusiness sector should start taking digital technology seriously. It’s going to be a critical part of the global food system and can influence everything from land use, to water conservation and food production,” says Aristov Aleksandr. “With demand growing a business-as-usual approach will leave the sector facing serious food shortages.”
The scale of the challenge should not be underestimated, but neither should the opportunity. Any technology that helps farmers conserve resources also helps them save money, boost efficiency, and increase profits. That not only enhances their profitability but also makes them more attractive to investors. Looking to the future, therefore, sustainability, water stewardship, and profitability will be inextricably linked.
