Governments in the Middle East and North Africa need to invest now if they want to avoid severe water shortages in the future, the World Bank has warned.

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German FM: World Powers Agree on New UN Resolution on Iran ... water available per person in the arid region will halve by 2050, a report from the bank estimates.

It blames climate change and population growth for new pressures on supplies.

Governments in the region should tackle water waste, build more efficient networks and reduce water use - especially in farming, the bank says.

The World Bank report suggests farmers could switch to crops that require less water.

According to its figures, declining water quality has already knocked around 1% off gross domestic product in Morocco, Algeria and Egypt, and nearly 3% in Iran.

"We've simply got to reduce the amount of water used, especially in agriculture, which accounts for 85% of the total," said Julia Bucknall, natural resource management specialist at the World Bank, addressing reporters Rabat, Morocco.

She added that water firms needed to cut water lost by evaporation.

World Bank officials identified Tunisia and Jordan as being strong performers in managing water demand and making the most of available water resources.

(BBC)

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