Tag: water

Water Insecurity and Malnutrition: An Overlooked Connection

June 24, 2026   by Kirsten Roe      Often, when people think of hunger or food insecurity, they may think about food availability (e.g., sufficient food), access (e.g., able to afford food or access it in the market), and nutrition (e.g., sufficient nutrients to prevent stunting, wasting, or obesity), as described by the 1996 World Food Summit.  However, researchers and international development practitioners are learning that water security might be essential to food security and prevent malnutrition

A June 2026 paper in Nature Food  found that people who lack safe drinking water are significantly more likely to experience food insecurity and food safety concerns (Bruine de Bruin et al., 2026). Drawing on data from 121 countries, the study demonstrates that water insecurity and food insecurity are deeply interconnected global challenges. While that conclusion may seem obvious when talking about more poor areas, the findings showed that even richer countries show a strong relationship between water and food insecurity.  The study found that insufficient access to clean drinking water is also associated with having inadequate food, more food safety risks, and challenges with nutrition.  This means that reducing hunger requires not only improving food access or availability but also ensuring reliable access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene.  There are several key interactions between water and food security. The first seems the most obvious: humans need water to grow crops through irrigation and livestock, thus providing food security. To produce sufficient food, people need reliable sources of water or the ability to store or use it efficiently through irrigation. Fruits and vegetables as well as livestock require more water compared to cereals and legumes. However, it is important that the water is also safe, since contaminated water can leave bacteria on crop surfaces and cause food poisoning as well as harming livestock. Even contaminants like heavy metals can be transferred through crops and livestock to those who consume them. With insufficient water for food production, there is both a total reduction in food produced, and a reduction of limited water needed for crop diversity.

Second, contaminated water can affect human nutrition by causing water-borne illnesses such as diarrhea, cholera, and parasites. Excessive diarrhea and vomiting can lead to short-term malnutrition due to not being able to keep food or water down while losing electrolytes and energy. It can also lead to long-term or chronic malnutrition through permanent damage to and inflammation of the intestines, causing a disorder called Environmental Enteric Dysfunction (EED). Children may eat enough calories and nutrients but may not be able to absorb them due to the damaged intestines. Repeated episodes of diarrheal disease, especially of children under the age of 5, can contribute to stunting, permanent nutritional imbalance, and impaired cognitive development (Gizaw, Yalew, and Bitew; 2022). A study in 2025 demonstrated that children drinking contaminated water had 3.3X higher risk of experiencing stunting compared to those drinking safe water (when comparing water that would be classified as unsafe based on the number of bacteria present) (Nugraheni et al. 2025). It is a vicious cycle: diarrheal episodes lead to insufficient nutrition, then intestinal damage, reduced appetite, and weaker immune systems, which can lead to more diarrheal episodes.

Third, safe water is essential for food preparation, both for cooking and hygiene. Water is necessary for many forms of cooking, but it is vital to have safe water to wash produce, cook meals, prepare infant foods, and eat meals with clean hands. Otherwise, there is an increase in disease risk. Even simple things like sanitizing toys and floors, ensuring animal waste does not get into the house, having animals remain outside the home, having concrete floors, and having suitable latrines and handwashing stations with soap can reduce diarrheal episodes. One study found that these actions can reduce diarrheal episodes and EED incidence and/or lead to linear child growth increases (Budge et al. 2019).  While combined WASH plus nutrition-specific interventions (such as IYCF, complementary feeding, etc.) show even more promise.

Fourth, older children and adults also endure effects from unsafe water. Sick adults may be weakened and unable to function for a period of time which can affect their own food security but also preventing care for young children such as farming or cooking. An indirect result occurs when adults get sick from contaminated water and are unable to work to earn money to purchase food Additionally, when someone is sick in the family, they may have to spend their income on health care, rather than being able to use funds for purchasing food or inputs for a farm.

In conclusion, increasing food availability or access may not be able to solve food insecurity or malnutrition on its own. As the figure shows, water and food insecurity can and should not be treated separately. Instead, international development practitioners should begin looking at integrated programs that combine water and food security.

See also:

World Bank. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/agriculture/brief/food-security-update/what-is-food-security

Clark, G. and R. Egan. “Clean drinking water gaps linked to hunger and unsafe food worldwide.” Phys.org.

Gizaw, Z., Yalew, A.W., Bitew, B.D. et al. Stunting among children aged 24–59 months and associations with sanitation, enteric infections, and environmental enteric dysfunction in rural northwest Ethiopia. Sci Rep 12, 19293 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23981-5

Nugraheni, Arwinda et al. “Investigating the Impact of Drinking Water on Urban Stunting in Indonesia.” Yonago acta medica vol. 68,4 306-314. 7 Nov. 2025

UNICEF/WHO, WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) – latest reports (essential baseline data)

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-gaps-linked-hunger-unsafe-food.html 

 

Book Review: How to Feed the World, by Vaclav Smil

Vaclav Smil has produced an increasing repertoire of books summarizing how humans consume different resources.  Over four decades he has visited many topics including food availability and its constraints.  His latest 2025 book, “How to Feed the World:  The History and Future of Food“ stands as his summum opus, and is the best current survey about the tension between human needs and food supplies, comparing key options and constraints.  Therefore it is highly recommended to students, scientists, aid workers and general readers alike.  The first section of his book tracks the inevitability of humans to depend on grains and legumes.

Smil highlights the paradox that some of the world’s largest food producers, like India, have significant undernourished populations. He attributes this to unequal “global entitlements to food” rather than insufficient production, pointing to economic, political, and social barriers that prevent equitable distribution.  But he also is concerned with the ability of societies to grow enough food for a population growing toward 10 billion persons, particularly in Africa where crop yields are low and water/irrigation is limited.

Smil causes particular attention to food waste.  He emphasizes the colossal scale of food waste, approximately 1,000 kcal per person daily in Western countries, with a third of food produced (around 3,300 kcal per person per day) wasted, including a quarter of unopened food in places like Britain. This inefficiency exacerbates hunger by reducing available food and straining resources, a critical issue as populations grow.

Much of the book tries to explain  why certain crops and animals are produced and others are not, and why a few specific foodstuffs provide the majority of the world’s calories today, and how hard it would be to shift away from those key crops.

The book reviews the history of the human race and how most humans over millions of years were primarily hunter gatherers.  Meat consumpion increased after domestication of animals (beginning around 10,000 years ago), “though it became more stratified by social class over time.” 

The book also covers related topics like the dominance of a few staple crops (rice, wheat, maize, etc.) for global calories, the history of animal domestication, fertilizer revolutions (e.g., Haber-Bosch nitrogen), and incremental paths forward like precision agriculture, nutrient recycling, and population stabilization via development.  Smil is patient in educating readers about the molecule cycles (such as nitrogen) involved in food ecology.

Much of the book may foment controversy.  For instance, Smil directly poses and scrutinizes the questions: “Could the whole planet go vegan and be healthy?  Should it?” His data-driven analysis highlights that many promoted plant foods (e.g., nuts, certain fruits, or intensive plant-based systems) carry high energy and resource inputs.  Such a shift to veganism may ignore human metabolic realities, historical dietary patterns (meat consumption rose with domestication ~10,000 years ago and became stratified), and practical trade-offs.  Similarly, Smil is skeptical of the scale-up prospects of laboratory-grown meat (without animals).  He notes their high energy demands, costs, infrastructure needs, and biophysical realities that make rapid large-scale deployment unfeasible.  This differs sharply from narratives positioning cultured meat as a near-term revolution for sustainability or feeding the world.

Organic farming also is seen as having limits.  Smil acknowledges the upsides such as improved soil health but emphasizes scalability limits:  heavy reliance on finite or unevenly distributed resources like animal manure and leguminous nitrogen fixation, lower yields compared to conventional systems, high labor demands, and nutrient-cycling bottlenecks. Proposals like massive double-cropping or cover-crop expansion overlook second-order effects (e.g., extra land needed for seeds).

Looking to the future, he recommends:

 Improve Agricultural Efficiency:  Boost crop productivity (especially in developing nations) through better agronomic practices (precision farming, optimized irrigation, soil health management) rather than just expanding farmland.

Reduce waste:  About 30–40% of food is lost post-harvest or wasted in distribution and consumption. Smil advocates for better storage, transport, and consumer habits.

Reduce Meat Consumption:  Shift toward less resource-intensive diets—Smil stresses that industrial meat production (especially beef) is grossly inefficient in terms of land, water, and feed use.

 Reform Fertilizer Use:  Nitrogen efficiency is key.  Synthetic fertilizers (especially nitrogen) revolutionized agriculture, but overuse causes pollution (e.g., algal blooms, GHG emissions). Smil advocates for precision application and organic amendments.   Recycle nutrients—Better utilize manure and food waste to close nutrient loops.

Don’t expect magical silver bullets:   No single solution will “fix” global hunger.  Smil critiques techno-optimism, arguing that diverse, incremental improvements are more reliable than radical shifts.  Lab-grown meat & plant-based substitutes may help but will likely remain a niche solution in the near term.  

Stabilize Population Growth:  Slowing population via education, women’s empowerment, and economic development, which reduces future food demand.

Reduce Biofuel Mandates:  channeling crops (corn, soy) into biofuels is inefficient which competes with food production and should be minimized.

Adapt to Climate Change by prioritizing resilient crops and farming systems over geoengineering or untested techno-fixes.  Smil observes that rising temperatures and CO₂ changes will unevenly affect staple crops like rice and corn, especially in Asia and Latin America.

Smil has written often about food and history.  Smil’s work on food production and agriculture emphasizes the intersections of energy, environment, and human systems, often highlighting the challenges of feeding a growing global population sustainably. He explores topics like the efficiency of food systems, the environmental impacts of dietary choices, and the role of technological innovations in agriculture.  He obtained a Ph.D. in geography from Pennsylvania State University in 1971 and joined the University of Manitoba in 1972, where he became Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Environment.

–  steve hansch, WHES