Rebalancing water use across the global food system is key to meeting future food demand sustainably while generating 245 million long-term jobs, largely in Sub-Saharan Africa, a new report by the World Bank Group has said.

The report, ‘Nourish and Flourish: Water Solutions to Feed 10 billion People on a Livable Planet’, noted that current agricultural water management practices, marked by overuse in some countries and underuse in others, can only sustainably support food production for less than half the global population.

By 2050, 10 billion people will need to be fed, it said.

Addressing both the overuse that depletes water in stressed regions and the underuse that leaves available water and productive capacity untapped in water-abundant regions will be essential to meet that demand sustainably, the World Bank said.

The report introduced a new framework for agricultural water management that links water availability with food production and trade.

By categorising countries based on water stress and their food import or export status, the framework helps to identify where expanding rain-fed agriculture can increase food production, where irrigation investments can unlock jobs and growth, where water use must be rebalanced to protect ecosystems and future productivity and where trade offers a more sustainable path than local production.

“The way we manage water for food will have profound implications for jobs, livelihoods and economic growth. By making smarter choices about where crops are grown, how water is allocated, and how trade supports food security, we can strengthen resilience, expand opportunity and safeguard the resources which we all rely on,” Managing Director and Chief Knowledge Officer of the World Bank Group, Paschal Donohoe, said.

“When investments in infrastructure and natural resources, business-enabling policies, and private capital mobilisation come together, the impact can be greater than the sum of its parts,” said Vice President for Planet at the World Bank Group, Guangzhe Chen.

“By linking global evidence with country realities, this framework can help policymakers navigate trade-offs and adapt food production to today’s water and climate realities—delivering food, jobs, and resilience together,” Chen added.

Expanding irrigation where water is available, alongside modernising existing systems, is estimated to require an additional $24–70 billion per year through 2050, the report noted.

According to the document, governments already spend roughly $490 billion yearly on agricultural support, most of it on subsidies. Redirecting a portion of current spending—combined with regulatory reform, use of blended finance, and public-private partnerships—will crowd in private capital, including co-investment by farmers themselves, and support financially sustainable water and food security.