Humboldt Forum for Food and Agriculture Declaration on Water and Food Security

ZURICH, Switzerland, March 19, 2010 - Currently, about one billion humans are undernourished. The prospects for
achieving world food security in the next decades are bleak. Global food
demand is likely to double in the first half of the century. As a
consequence, prices of key agricultural commodities may be expected to be 50
to 100 percent higher towards the end of this decade than they were after the
turn of the millennium. Higher food prices would dramatically increase the
number of undernourished, and they have the potential to trigger violent food
riots and mass migration away from food-insecure countries.

Agriculture withdraws about 70% percent of all fresh water. In the past,
agricultural production growth has always been paralleled by increasing water
withdrawals for farming. Therefore, future food production growth is
increasingly constrained by water. Humboldt Forum for Food and Agriculture
(HFFA) released a declaration on "Water and World Food Security" on the 2010
World Water Day.

It calls for:

    - Additional R&D investment in for more efficient water institutions.
    - Increasing water efficiency of crops through increased investment in
      plant breeding research and water infrastructure.
    - A liberal international agricultural trade system such that food can
      flow freely from areas with abundant water and other natural resources
      to where it is needed.
    - Pricing water such that it reflects its value to society.
    - Emphasis on water and world food security in the international policy
      debate.

HFFA also calls for a global summit on water and world food security. It
also proposes to create an international A25 group which, much like the G20,
develops implements and coordinates international efforts to alleviate hunger
around the globe.

Berlin Declaration: www.humboldtforum.org

    Contact:
    Mathis Brauchbar, Media Relations
    Mobile: +41-79-407-93-62
    E-Mail: info@humboldtforum.org

Contact: Mathis Brauchbar, Media Relations, Mobile: +41-79-407-93-62, E-Mail: info at humboldtforum.org