The reality of food security in light of the challenges of achieving water security in Libya

Abstract

Libya is considered one of the countries that suffers from difficulty in achieving its water and food security, due to the scarcity of available water resources, as it depends mainly on groundwater, which is the main water resource, as it contributes more than 95% of the total available water resources, and it suffers from water Excessive withdrawal on it, and the rain water could not compensate for that withdrawal due to the scarcity of precipitation in the country, and the aquifers are represented in five water reservoirs. Which face water and food security in Libya, and reviewed laws and legislation, and the study reached a number of results, most notably, agricultural activity is the largest consumer of fresh water in Libya, with a rate of 83.2% of it, in 2020, and food security is closely linked to water security, as the lack of water Its extensive exploitation negatively effects on agricultural activity, causing a shortage of food, and water security in Libya faced various challenges, most notably, water depletion and the consequent overlapping of sea water, and its impact on the quality of aquifer water, and the study recommended working to activate the role of the Ministry of Water Resources to develop an integrated management policy for managing Water in a rational way, while working on maintaining and establishing new desalination plants, while working on changing the type of energy used to environmentally friendly energy sources such as solar energy, as well as its lower cost compared to light fuel oil, while working on cooperation with civil society institutions, to educate citizens about the value of water, And changing his behavior to turn into economic behavior instead of exhaustive behavior.