According to this article, food policy should serve humanity by advancing the humane goals of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. However, these goals have recently been challenged by emerging forces, including climate change, water scarcity, the energy crisis and the credit crisis. This paper analyses the overall role of these forces and population growth in redefining global food security. Specifically, global water supply and demand as well as the linkages between water supply and food security are examined.

This paper reports on the design and testing of a new water-point data transmitter that can provide reliable real-time data on hand pump usage to address this information deficit. Using a low-cost integrated-circuit based accelerometer, the transmitter automatically monitors the number of strokes made in operating a hand pump, and then transmits this information over the Global System for Mobile Communications network.

Upstream water use is not adjusted to reflect rainfall fluctuations, and downstream farmers of the Nagarjuna Sagar irrigation project in the state of Andhra Pradesh are increasingly vulnerable to water supply shocks. This paper documents the wide range of adjustments adopted by managers and farmers in Nagarjuna Sagar during a period of fluctuating water availability (2000-2007). Primary and secondary data indicate managerial adjustments such as rotational and timely water supplies to meet critical water demands of standing crops.