GIR 2025 working paper: Irrigation

This working paper identifies irrigation infrastructure as a critical pillar of global food security, highly exposed to multi-hazard risks intensified by climate change. Disasters such as floods, droughts, storms, and earthquakes disrupt water delivery systems, leading to cascading impacts on agricultural production, farmer incomes, and food prices. Although irrigated land represents a smaller share of total cultivated area, it supports a disproportionately large share of global food output, making even minor infrastructure damage highly consequential for food system stability.

The study highlights how ageing infrastructure, underinvestment, and weak governance significantly increase system vulnerability, while climate change amplifies both hazard intensity and reliance on irrigation. With average annual losses approaching $2 billion, risks are concentrated in already vulnerable regions such as South and Southeast Asia and Africa. Floods emerge as the dominant hazard, followed by cyclones, droughts, and heat stress. The paper emphasizes that investing in resilient design, maintenance, and governance frameworks can substantially reduce systemic risk, ensuring more stable food production and strengthening global food security.