Is water stress causing a global food emergency?

Things to think about

1. Before viewing

Water cycles through the environment. What are the major stages of the water cycle?

Some farmers rely on accessing water stored underground. In what ways can you see that overusing this water supply might disrupt the water cycle?

2. As you view

Why do you think supermarket products are shown at the beginning of the clip? What is the link between these products and water supplies?

What example does Claus Conzelmann use to illustrate the issues around the water crisis? What's his main message?

3. After viewing

Explain why the watertable is sinking in India and describe some short-term and long-term consequences of this.

How would you account for the distribution pattern of water-stressed regions around the globe?

Why are Australian desert regions not considered to be 'water stressed'?

4. Next steps

The Water Footprint Network has calculated the quantities of water required to produce 1 kilogram of different foods: rice 3,400 litres; cheese 5,000 litres; beef 15,000 litres. Not everyone agrees with these findings. Explore a few different opinions about water use related to the production of several other foods.

2 mins 31 secs

Source: Landline | Learning area: Science | Secondary: Year 7


Think about the amount of water needed for food production. Is reducing water use during food processing the only way of lowering water usage? Find out some reasons for suggesting a global reduction in water use during the growing of raw products. Discover the relationship of water-stressed regions around the world to food production.


00:00:02:09PRUE ADAMS:Water, as the cliche goes, is the elixir of life. It's easy to forget when we wheel our trolley past the thousands of foods on the supermarket shelves that every single one of them has needed water for growing and manufacturing. And that is putting a strain on the world's water supplies.

...Read more >

00:00:26:24CLAUS CONZELMANN:There was a lot of discussion over the last few years about global warming, but we believe there is another inconvenient truth, and that is global drying, which is really the world water crisis.00:00:40:05MAN:Please welcome Claus Conzelmann.00:00:44:07PRUE ADAMS:Claus Conzelmann is no political activist or marginalised greenie. He heads up the health and environment division at the world's biggest food and drink company.00:00:56:07CLAUS CONZELMANN:G'day, ladies and gentlemen.00:00:58:07PRUE ADAMS:He told a food science convention in Brisbane that Nestle has halved the amount of water it uses in its factories, but the much bigger issue is reducing the water used in growing the raw products.00:01:12:17CLAUS CONZELMANN:India is a country where water is being withdrawn at a frightening rate, where watertables are dropping year after year, where you have to go down already more than a kilometre in many parts of India to get water, and we do have a number of factories also in the area, both on the Indian and the Pakistani Punjab. We are very, very worried that if the farmers don't get the water anymore, they will not be able to produce the raw materials on which we depend on in our factories.00:01:43:04PRUE ADAMS:This is a map devised by a Swiss think tank showing the areas of the world that are water-stressed - and, frighteningly, the hot spots are also where most of our food is produced. Great chunks of the western parts of the United States are using more water than is being replenished. Most of northern Africa and the Mediterranean, much of India and large areas of China are all facing serious water scarcity. In the driest continent on Earth, Australia, perhaps the most surprising thing is the large area that is not water-stressed - most of the country is OK. But the Murray-Darling Basin and parts of south-eastern Queensland ARE feeling the pressure of water overuse.

For teachers

  • Science: Year 7
  • Strand: Science Understanding
  • Substrand: Earth and space sciences
  • Content code: ACSSU222
  • Content description: Water is an important resource that cycles through the environment
  • Science: Year 7
  • Strand: Science as a Human Endeavour
  • Substrand: Nature and development of science
  • Content code: ACSHE223
  • Science: Year 7
  • Strand: Science as a Human Endeavour
  • Substrand: Use and influence of science
  • Content code: ACSHE121
  • Content description: Science understanding influences the development of practices in areas of human activity such as industry, agriculture and marine and terrestrial resource management

About this resource



Date first broadcast:

16 August 2009

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Is water stress causing a global food emergency?