If you live in Europe, chances are you have pondered the drought that has hit the South particularly hard this last Winter and Spring, especially because it had already been weighing heavily on our minds since last summer. The month of April was the hottest and driest April registered in Spain, and in certain regions of France, the ongoing drought crisis has been the longest on record. In fact, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department of France and certain areas in the South of Spain such as Malaga, there hasn’t really been any rainfall of consequence for over a year now. In the North of Italy there was a 40% decrease in rainfall in 2022 and 2023 is off to a bad start, resulting in water storage levels that were not even half as high as normal and dried out lakes and rivers. In France, it did not rain anywhere for 32 consecutive days in January and February – the longest dry spell in winter since monitoring began in 1959.

But it’s not just the South of Europe that has been affected – even normally water-abundant countries such as Austria have been struggling due to not only the heat and drought crisis of the summer of 2022, but also this past dry winter and early Spring. The lack of snow and rain has taken its toll on the already eroding soils of large parts of our continent. And while April and May have finally brought rain to Italy and Austria at least, the sudden intense downpour paired with the lack of the soil’s capacity to absorb it is resulting in flooding and therefore turning out to be a poisoned gift. Italy has gone from having too little water to having too much practically overnight.

Meanwhile, in the hard-hit regions of Spain and France, water is already being rationed, a few months before summer has even started. A situation that is already difficult for the general public is more than just disastrous for the local farmers – it can rob them of their very livelihood. Because nothing grows without water – not vegetables, not fruit, not cereals. And this should worry us all. 

But we don’t want to be fatalistic or alarmist, we prefer to look at the potential solutions and what we can learn from what nature is telling us. Having deeply reflected this topic, we have identified a few points that we would like to shed some light on:

• We need to accelerate the transition to regenerative agriculture immediately – the reversal of land degradation (and stopping it from getting that far in the first place!) will be a top priority for CrowdFarming going forward, keeping in mind that one of the keys to maintaining water resources efficiently are our soils.
  
  
• The water resources we do have need to be managed more efficiently. As an example, we can find some efficient irrigation techniques in Spain,  where we can find dryer regions used to going long periods without rain. Our farmers implement practices such as drip irrigation, systems that prevent run-off, respecting contour lines, use of sensors so that the irrigation is as precise as possible and never wasteful. 
  
  
• Water allocation in regions under water stress should follow a “need” versus “want” principle: Perhaps it is time to favour sustainable food production over perpetually green golf courts; and preferably before a drought crisis is already on hand.
  
  
• All activities exacerbating climate change should be reflected – let’s  do our part in curbing CO₂ emissions and fight to maintain the temperatures so crucial for a balanced ecosystem

But first things first:

Understanding the situation

In order to understand the drought situation in Europe, it must be borne in mind that there are three different but related types of drought: 

1. Meteorological: Rainfall deficit (water in the atmosphere)
2. Hydrological: Deficits of flow or storage in natural watercourses and bodies of water (surface water).
3. Agricultural: Deficits in soil moisture (water in the soil)
   
   

Normally, meteorological drought – meaning lack of rainfall – is the main trigger for the rest. However, high temperatures and unsustainable farming contribute to aggravating the consequences of the former. 

The World Meteorological Organization defines drought as ”a prolonged dry period in the natural climate cycle that can occur anywhere in the world” and ”a slow on-set phenomenon caused by a lack of rainfall”. This means a “real” drought does not occur just because there is no rain for a few months. It is a creeping process. This means that a drought is something that should not overtake a country by surprise, as the respective State Meteorological Organization normally measures rainfall and water levels over time. It also means that something can be done in terms of preventative measures – especially in the fields of water management, but also within the sectors that are highly affected by drought, such as agriculture. Being mindful of what researchers and data are telling us and monitoring the situation on both the political, governance side and the farmers’ side could help mitigate the severity of a drought and its consequences. 

The contributing factors

→ Global warming

While it may be a case of stating the obvious, it does need to be mentioned: The high temperatures are one of the major factors contributing to the drought’s effects, causing water evaporation and further stressing plants and animals alike. Records show that heatwaves in Europe significantly increased between 1951 and 2017, leaving water reserves severely depleted. Precipitation is overall more spaced out and tends to be intense when it does occur. While there seems to be a clear trend in some regions – such as certain areas of France, Italy and Spain, as mentioned above, no clear pattern has emerged yet, making our weather quite unpredictable.

However, the current drought crisis has a clear correlation with human activity: There is ample scientific evidence (see the annual IPCC report for example) that emissions (caused mainly by the energy industry, but also by transport and industries such as food and fashion) have not only caused but are accelerating global warming. The occurrence of extreme weather conditions and prolonged drought periods falls within the possible scenarios that the scientific community has been warning us about. 

→ Soil degradation

According to the EU Soil Observatory, near 60% of our soils are either already degraded or in an unhealthy state.

Land degradation is directly related to water cycles, through processes such as soil erosion. Extreme water conditions can cause soil erosion by removing the fertile topsoil and exposing the remaining soil, so that it becomes highly vulnerable to the elements. On top of decreasing agricultural productivity, erosion increases the risk of occurrences such as landslides or floods.

Healthy soils play a vital role when it comes to water management:

• They filter water, trapping pollutants and preventing them from leaching into the groundwater.
• They capture and store water better, avoiding for it to run-off together with nutrients contained in the soil and protecting soils from eroding. 
• They minimize surface evaporation, reducing the need for irrigation.
  
  

Intensive and conventional agriculture contributes to soil degradation due to heavy machinery and tilling, use of fertilizers and pesticides and soil exposure to direct sunlight via deforestation.

If you have to remember one thing of in all of this: Take care of the soil. Support those who take care of the soil. There is a lot at stake in keeping the world below our feet alive. 

The possible solutions

For us as farmers and members of the food industry, the main contribution we can provide, on top of efficient water management, is to implement regenerative practices – mulching, cover crops, minimizing tillage and increasing organic matter – to encourage water retention in the soil. 

Other measures we – as a society, as voters, as companies, as consumers – can actively pursue include:

– Reduction of food waste, so that we only use water to produce the food we are going to consume. Let us not forget: One third of the food produced globally ends up lost or wasted – more so in the case of fresh food. 

– Avoiding the use of synthetic chemicals, fires, and deforestation that degrade the soil and work against water retention. Choosing organic products or those in conversion to organic and, if possible, products produced through regenerative practices. 

The situation of our farmers

In the case of our farmers specifically, they can only use their own water resources – which vary considerably, as they might have their own reservoirs where they collect rain water or their own wells – as well as the water resources allocated to them by official organisms. When both their own water resources and the water resources allocated to them on a municipal level are depleted, as was the case for some of our farmers in the especially hard-hit regions of the South this Spring already, this simply means that they cannot irrigate anymore and thus lose their crops or experience a significantly reduced harvest.  

This is why we had fewer avocados or oranges available than usual at this time of the year – the season was simply cut short. Luckily, even in the South we do have a lot of farmers – in Granada for example – that have so far not been significantly affected by the drought.

Our farmers benefit from having healthier soils and being very resource-conscious.  In Spain, all of our farmers have learned to avoid over-irrigation and to make due with reduced amounts of water even before the drought crisis hit.

The million-dollar drought question

As a consequence, should we stop cultivating water-intensive crops?

There is no easy answer to this question. While it is true that there are crops that cannot be solely rainfed in some regions, there are certain foods that are more in the public eye than others when it comes to their water consumption.   

There is a reason why it makes sense to cultivate these irrigated crops in the South of Europe: it is quite simply the only region of Europe where it is possible to cultivate them. The alternative would be importing them from overseas, and becoming dependent on food imports from overseas cannot be the answer to food security in Europe.

It is also important to keep a few facts in mind: According to the Water Footprint Network, the production of 1 kg of bovine meat requires a whopping 15,000 litres of water.  No crop comes even remotely close to that number. And within the world of crops, a lot of very common cereals also require more water than many types of fruit, including avocado or oranges. There is also the nutritional value of the food we are producing to consider, especially in comparison to water need. 

We also need to remind ourselves: Any and all plants need water. Where there is no water, there is no life. So let us focus on managing our water resources more efficiently, sharing knowledge, supporting regenerative agriculture and questioning the water use of industries that are not vital for our survival.

And, remember, the life below your feet is key for all of the above.

Sources:

• Water scarcity conditions in Europe | Water exploitation index plus (8th EAP)
• IPCC 2022
• FAO Campaign Materials | World Soil Day, 5 December
• World Meteorological Organization
• Soil erosion must be stopped ‘to save our future’, says UN agriculture agency | News.un.org
• Conservation Agriculture as a Sustainable System for Soil Health: A Review | Mdpi
• Which foods need the most water to produce? | World Economic Forum
• Erosion in Europe – Projections by 2050 | ESDAC – European Commission
• Europe’s Water Crisis: From Overshadowed to Potentially Catastrophic | European Journal of Development Studies