COVID-19 - FAO releases policy brief on integrated agriculture water management and health

In the face of growing pressures on water supplies and overuse of existing surface water and groundwater resources, the Land and Water Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has released a policy brief on”Integrated agriculture water management and health.”

Launching the paper, the FAO said that coupled with the ever-present threat of zoonotic diseases as demonstrated by the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic, the pressures require alternative approaches to water management.

The Policy Brief reviews on oing challenges and proposes recommendations on integrated water resources management approach that embraces the value of water in all its forms and recognizes the intrinsic role of water in protecting human, animal and ecosystem health.

The FAO’s multi-sectoral approach to integrated water resources management under the One Water One Health concept of water recognizes that decisions regarding land and water use have real implications for health.

According to the UN organisation, less-resilient ecosystems, shifts in patterns of disease emergence and spreading, manifest themselves when society fails to recognize this relationship.

The FAO says 2.2 billion people still lack access to water and 4.2 billion people to sanitation services, making them much more vulnerable in times of epidemic diseases. In addition, the degradation of ecosystems, such as primary forests, rangelands and wetlands, often facilitates the spreading of zoonotic diseases.

“Recent outbreaks of West Nile virus, Ebola virus disease, SARS, monkeypox, mad cow disease, avian influenza and COVID-19 remind us that human and animal health are intimately connected”, the paper states.

Click here to download Integrated agriculture water management and health