22 March 2026 Written by: Henry Throp Patricia Calderon, PhD Rafael Silvestre Key Topic(s) Water Scarcity Climate Undervalued and overconsumed, the world is facing a water crisis, and the agri-food sector, as one of the largest consumers of freshwater, is at its core. Water and freshwater ecosystems support an estimated US$58 trillion in economic value (equivalent to 60% of global GDP), which is increasingly under threat due to heightened water pollution and scarcity.