India, March 21 -- As the global population heads towards nearly 10 billion by 2050, current agricultural water management (AWM) systems can sustainably support food production for only about 3.4 billion people-less than half of today's population of 8 billion. At the heart of the crisis lies not just water scarcity, but poor management according to a new report.

Water is used inefficiently, unevenly and often unsustainably, according to the report published by World Bank ahead of World Water Day 2026. For instance, while parts of Sub-Saharan Africa underuse available resources, regions such as South Asia are overexploiting them.

Both extremes are risky-undermining food production, degrading ecosystems and heightening vulnerability to c...