The World Bank has called for a radical change to global water use in an effort to rescue billions from the growing risk of hunger.

Then bank has issued a new study which called for a Rebalancing of water use across the global food system, which it described as key to meeting future food demand sustainably and could generate 245 million long-term jobs, largely in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The report – Nourish and Flourish: Water Solutions to Feed 10 Billion People on a Liveable Planet – notes 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. 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 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,” said Paschal Donohoe, managing director and chief knowledge officer of the World Bank Group.

The report advocates for 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 identify where expanding rainfed 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.

It adds there needs to be a recognition these outcomes will require stronger private sector participation and financing alongside public investment, supported by effective policies, institutions, and regulations to boost food production, create jobs, and support sustainable growth. Public funding alone cannot deliver the sustained services, innovation, and scale needed to expand irrigation, improve performance, and maintain results. Farmers, who are the primary users of irrigation and its main investors, are already willing to co-invest when access to finance, quality equipment, markets, and digital tools reduces the risks and transaction costs they face.

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

Expanding irrigation where water is available, alongside modernizing existing systems, is estimated to require an additional $24 – 70 billion per year through 2050. Governments already spend roughly $490 billion annually 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.