What is the water footprint?
The water footprint measures the volume of water used to produce a good or service, and where that water comes from. Measuring it in agriculture is urgent, because more than 77% of water is consumed by this sector. Water productivity is becoming a key indicator, as we need to produce more while using less water.
- Green footprint: rainwater
- Blue footprint: surface water and groundwater
- Grey footprint: polluted water
Key figures
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Water consumed by agriculture | over 77% |
| Annual deaths from water-related diseases | 1.4 million |
| People whose lives will be shortened by water-related diseases | 74 million |
| People without safe drinking water | 2 billion today, 5 billion by 2050 |
| People without safe sanitation | 3.6 billion |
| Household wastewater not safely treated | 44% |
| Increase in global water demand by 2050 | +55% |
| Global water use | 600 km³/year (1900) → 6,000 km³/year (2025) |
| World population | about 2 billion (1900) → over 8 billion (2025) |
| Water use by sector (2025) | Agriculture 70% · Industry 22% · Domestic use and services 8% |
| Savings with conservation tillage or no-till farming | 20% of soil water |
| Savings when subsurface drip irrigation is added | over 50% |
| Barley water footprint, traditional irrigation | 1,250 L/kg (800 g/m³) |
| Barley water footprint, drip irrigation and conservation tillage | 540 L/kg (1,851 g/m³) |
| Reference goal | SDG 6: clean water and sanitation for all by 2030 |
SDG 6: clean water and sanitation
In 2015 the world committed to Sustainable Development Goal 6 of the 2030 Agenda: safely managed water and sanitation for everyone by 2030. We are still far from reaching this goal.
“FAO works with countries to make water use in agriculture more efficient, productive and environmentally friendly. This means producing more food with less water, building the capacity of farming communities to cope with floods and droughts, and applying clean water technologies that protect the environment. FAO also supports countries in monitoring water use and water stress levels.”FAO, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
The water crisis in numbers
Figures published for World Water Day:
- 1.4 million people die every year from water-related diseases, and 74 million will have their lives shortened
- 2 billion people lack safe drinking water. By 2050 this will reach 5 billion
- 3.6 billion people lack safe sanitation
- 44% of household wastewater is not safely treated
- Global water demand is expected to rise by 55% by 2050
The water footprint of markets
| 1900 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Global water use | 600 km³/year | 6,000 km³/year |
| World population | about 2 billion | over 8 billion |
Water use by sector (2025): agriculture 70%, industry 22%, domestic use and services 8%.
Source: “Acqua nel Mondo”, gruppocap.it, 24 September 2021
Over the last decade the global water situation has worsened. Climate change has altered rainfall patterns and amounts, and thousands of hectares are no longer sown because reservoirs lack water.
How to reduce agriculture’s water footprint
- Conservation tillage or no-till farming: in regenerative agriculture, a surface layer of crop residue makes water vapour rising from the soil condense and return to it. This saves 20% of soil water.
- Conservation tillage plus subsurface drip irrigation: savings exceed 50%.
Case study: barley
| System | Litres per kg of barley | Water productivity |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional flood irrigation | 1,250 L/kg | 800 g/m³ |
| Subsurface drip irrigation and conservation tillage | 540 L/kg | 1,851 g/m³ |
Measure to manage
- Flow meters (L/s) at the outlets of wells, ponds, pumps and pipelines, to track the water drawn from each source
- Volumetric soil water content available to plant roots, measured in each field with reliable instruments
The FAO recommends CRNS (Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensing) as the most innovative and reliable method for this monitoring and for reaching SDG 6, because it overcomes the limits of point probes and satellite data. With CRNS, irrigation and land reclamation boards, river basin authorities, associations and institutions get reliable data on how much water crops actually use, and can manage the resource as efficiently as possible.
The Finapp impact
- Contactless measurement of water content in soil and snow
- Less water waste in agriculture
- Lower energy costs
- Higher productivity
- Data on the water available at the plant root zone