The majority of countries in need of increasing food security are located in Sub$B!>(BSaharan Africa and South$B!>(BEast Asia. The farmers in many of these countries, especially in semi$B!>(Barid areas, have to cope with highly variable and unpredictable rainfall, short rainy seasons, recurrent drought all exacerbated by high evaporation rates. Yet, agriculture in these areas is essentially rain$B!>(Bfed. There is of course scope for using "blue water" (i.e. runoff water, water from rivers, ground waters, lakes) in these challenged countries but as these
resources are finite and often over$B!>(Bcommitted, the exploitation of other water sources needs to be optimised. Green water is an important part of the solution to the problem.
More research on green water is necessary
Water from rain suffers losses through run$B!>(Boff, low infiltration, poor conditions of root development and soil erosion. Efforts need to be made to improve the efficiency of rainwater use to deliver more green water for use by the plants, especially for the benefit of small farmers in arid and semi$B!>(Barid countries. To contribute to achieving this goal, IFS is making a call for research proposals in this area.
http://www.ifs. se/Programme/ Announcements/ Call_for_ applications_ GreenWater_ 2008.pdf
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