Title : Limited of water resources drives to food insecurity during conflict period case of study Libya
Abstract:
Limited of water resources in Libya is main problem facing the country , The Groundwater is the main source of fresh Water in the country, WATER problem has big issues not only in Libya or North Africa but around the world , Libya is mostly arid and semi-arid covers a total of 1,759,540 square Kilometers (GAI,2008), The cultivable area of the Libyan state is estimated to be about 2.2 million hectares (1.2% of the total area) (NASID,2006, more than 80%of agricultural production achieves from irrigated agriculture, population growth is high , Rapidly increasing population in many parts of the World place growing demands on Water for agricultural, domestic, and industry use . limited arable land, and low soil fertility. Limited water resources in Libya is main reason for hinders the agricultural sector in the country. Libya depends heavily on groundwater resources 97% (Ehdadan-2018). agricultural sector facing another challenge which water is in the south (groundwater) and the arable land in the north part of country. Majority of the population and agricultural activities are concentrated in the northern part of the country where there is not enough water for them petroleum countries in the Arab world such as Libya Kuwait are heavily dependent on oil exports to support their GDP and buy food commodities by oil revenues of GDP (World Bank, 2008). Food problem in 2010 agriculture accounted for only 3 percent of Libya’s GDP. Stagnation in the sector made the country highly dependent on imports. Before 2011, Libya imported 80 percent of its consumption requirements, with wheat, oil, maize, and milk comprising the main commodities sourced from abroad. EAU import about 90% of their requirements (Ameena Ali,2019) . according to FAO report, water resources will be enough to produce enough food at the global level up to 2050, but many regions will face substantial water scarcity. Water shortages will result in increased competition and agriculture sector will continue to be the largest user of water resources in most of the countries around the world and account for 70 per cent or more of water withdrawals from rivers, lakes, and aquifers (FAO, 2015) almost 1.5 billion people at the present time live in states facing conflict and food insecurity. Some other studies the conflicts are usually linked to natural resources, where some countries that are rich in natural resources, such as oil, gas, diamonds, and gold, were most plagued by conflict in the past 20 years and commodity rich countries characterized by widespread food insecurity, such as Libya, Angola, (Lean 2012; Walsh 2018). Moreover, there are many reasons why food insecurity may lead to conflicts. This can be due to food price increases and volatility.
