In many parts of the world, water resources are under pressure due to the ever-increasing demand from growing populations and the need for increased agricultural production. Water scarcity is expected to increase in the future, in particular for the 40% of the world classified as semi-arid.

Access to water is therefore recognised as one of the main economic drivers in the semi-arid areas and the United Nations has included water use efficiency as one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) indicators. However, seen from a policy and investment perspective, there are significant knowledge gaps and uncertainties in how much water is available, used and extracted from these regions. Better data on water use is called for to improve agricultural planning.