ISLAMABAD: Pakistan ranks among the world’s six most inefficient users of agricultural water, contributing to severe freshwater losses amid increasingly arid conditions, according to a new World Bank report.
The report, titled “Continental Drying: A Threat to Our Common Future,” highlights that inefficient water use in agriculture is a key driver of global freshwater loss — estimated at 324 billion cubic metres annually. This volume, the report notes, would be sufficient to meet the water needs of 280 million people each year.
Drawing on two decades of satellite data combined with advanced modelling techniques, the World Bank report provides an unprecedented view of how land and water management choices are reshaping global water availability.
It reveals that around one-quarter of inefficient water consumption in rain-fed agriculture and one-third in irrigated farming occur in regions experiencing declining freshwater resources. These “hot spots” — where water inefficiency overlaps with drying conditions — are most evident in Western Asia, Eastern Europe, and North Africa.
At the national level, countries with the highest share of inefficient agricultural water consumption under drying conditions include Algeria, Cambodia, Mexico, Pakistan, Thailand, Tunisia, and Romania.
The report warns that over the past two decades, global agriculture has increasingly shifted toward more water-intensive crops. Among the drying countries, 37 have transitioned to such crops, including 22 in arid and semi-arid zones — further straining already scarce water supplies.
It adds that more than two-thirds of inefficient irrigation in these drying regions is tied to water-intensive crop cultivation, emphasizing the urgent need for smarter crop selection and water-efficient farming practices.
The World Bank further notes that global water use has risen by 25 percent since 2000, with a third of that increase occurring in areas already facing drying trends. This, combined with worsening droughts and unsustainable practices such as weak pricing policies, poor coordination, deforestation, and wetland degradation, is accelerating global freshwater depletion.
The report calls for immediate action to improve water efficiency, reform agricultural practices, and strengthen governance to safeguard the planet’s shrinking freshwater resources.
