Water, the most precious resource in the world, is increasingly scarce. However even as global water shortages threaten the world, Israeli innovation in countering water scarcity could yet lead the world out of the abyss of water shortage and war.
Cyber security, counter-terrorism and aerospace are most often associated with Israel. However the nation’s potentially greatest global contribution, water conservation, is relatively little known or understood. This ought to change, writes Jeevan Vipinachandran in the Times of Israel. From California to North India, Israeli agricultural genius is changing people’s lives.
The overall global statistics on water shortage are truly frightening. According to the UN, desertification threatens over 1.5 billion people globally. The arable land loss rate is around 23 hectares a minute, depriving tens of millions of precious farming land and food. Already, civil wars in Africa are being waged over the question of water scarcity. How long before they explode into full blown interstate wars? This is a question global policymakers may rather not confront, given the relative silence over it. The wars of the future are likely to be water wars, but this can still be avoided
The inventive Israelis have however made significant breakthroughs in water security. Drip irrigation, where water slowly and efficiently drips down onto plantations through tubes, was invented by an Israeli bureaucrat, Simcha Blass. This irrigation system is changing lives the world over. Farmers in countries like Kenya are taking full advantage of this proven technology to ensure that they have adequate crop yields.
It is possible that water technology could become the high watermark of skill and in Israel’s longstanding battle for greater recognition and partnership in the near future. That would indeed be a good outcome for both Jerusalem and the world.