By Emma Batha
In the James Bond film Quantum of Solace, the power-hungry villain wasn’t seeking to control supplies of gold or oil but another commodity that some argue could one day be far more precious – water.
Not so long ago it would have seemed far-fetched to suggest water might ever be worth more than oil. But as the world population continues to soar, so does the demand for water to make enough food to feed us – it takes about 1,000 litres of water to produce just 1kg of wheat and five to ten times more for 1kg of meat.
The problem of finding all this water is highlighted in an interesting new report which looks at the recent scramble by foreign investors to snap up millions of hectares of land in Africa to grow crops for export.
GRAIN, an organisation supporting small farmers, argues that hidden behind this rush for land is a worldwide struggle for control over water.
Investors are acquiring vast tracts of land for growing crops for food and biofuels in countries including Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mali and Senegal.
