Implications of Water Scarcity for Water Productivity and Farm Labor

Abstract

Increasing water scarcity causes a variety of pressures on agricultural production given current and growing food demands. This paper seeks to add to our understanding of water scarcity adaptations by explicitly addressing linkages between water scarcity, water productivity, cropping choices, and farm labor. We challenge the widespread claim that tightening foreign (especially Mexican) labor supply will necessarily result in less labor-intensive crop choices. Instead, by linking water scarcity and farm labor through the lens of water productivity we illustrate scenarios under which climate and technological change result in greater future labor demand in agriculture, including temporary and seasonal workers, largely due to water productivity increases resulting from switching to more labor-intensive crops. We conclude that a focus on crop choices is central to understanding changes in water productivity, labor demand, and technological innovations in response to water scarcity.