Agroecology, a smart strategy for adaptation to drought risks

Drought is characterized by a period marked by a significant lack of water in a given area. This phenomenon has an impact on vegetation, which then shows notable signs of water stress. As a consequence, drought impacts all plant, animal and human life. It is defined by the UNCCD as “a naturally occurring phenomenon that exists when precipitation has been significantly below normal recorded levels, causing serious hydrological imbalances that adversely affect land resource production systems”.
Drought is considered one of the most serious natural disasters, causing short and long-term economic and social losses for millions of people around the world.

• More than two billion people live in countries with high water stress (UN-Water, 2019 – UN, 2018). Other estimates are even more pessimistic, with up to four billion people – more than half the world’s population – already facing severe water stress for at least one month of the year (Global Land Outlook, 2017).
• In 2017, drought led to the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II, when 20 million people across Africa and the Middle East were on the brink of starvation, (UN-OCHA).
• 700 million people are at risk of being displaced by drought by 2030. (UN/World Bank HighLevel Panel on Water 2018)

The risks and frequency of droughts are increased by climate change and weigh heavily on agricultural and food production systems. Unlike preconceived ideas, the industrialization of agriculture promoted for decades does not allow us to cope with this situation and seems, on the contrary, to increase vulnerability.

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