ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Fahad Al-Attiya - Food security expert
Fahad Al-Attiya's job is to maintain food security in Qatar, a country that has no water and imports 90 percent of its food.

Why you should listen

Fahad Bin Mohammed Al-Attiya has his work cut out for him: His home, Qatar, has found itself a newly oil-rich country with an economy growing at an average rate of 15 percent a year, with a rapidly expanding population. That burst in population has been accompanied by a huge surge in water consumption. So what's so strange about that? -- Qatar has virtually no water. In comparison to Brazil's annual 1782 mm of rain, Qatar's annual rainfall is 74 mm.

Al-Attiya is the Chairman of Qatar’s National Food Security Programme, and he is tasked with making food secure -- and keeping it that way -- in a place that has no water and imports 90 percent of its food. He hopes that his program's innovations in sustainable agriculture, especially in arid regions, can help other countries deal with dwindling food supplies due to extreme climate change.

More profile about the speaker
Fahad Al-Attiya | Speaker | TED.com
TEDxSummit

Fahad Al-Attiya: A country with no water

法赫德·阿提亚: 无水之国

Filmed:
1,529,461 views

想象一个能源充沛的 国家——有石油、有天然气、有阳光、有风(还有钱)——但就是没有生命系以为生的关键要素:水。基础建设工程师法赫德·阿提亚讲述中东小国卡塔尔异乎寻常的供水方式。
- Food security expert
Fahad Al-Attiya's job is to maintain food security in Qatar, a country that has no water and imports 90 percent of its food. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:16
Salaam行额手礼 alaikumalaikum.
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祝你平安!(阿拉伯常见的问候语)
00:19
Welcome欢迎 to Doha多哈.
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多哈欢迎你。
00:21
I am in charge收费 of making制造 this country's food餐饮 secure安全.
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我负责确保卡塔尔的食品保障。
00:24
That is my job工作 for the next下一个 two years年份,
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在接下来的两年时间里,
00:26
to design设计 an entire整个 master plan计划,
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我的工作是设计一个完整的总体规划,
00:28
and then for the next下一个 10 years年份 to implement实行 it --
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然后在接下来的 10 年里实施这个规划——
00:32
of course课程, with so many许多 other people.
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当然,是和很多人共同实施。
00:34
But first, I need to talk to you about a story故事, which哪一个 is my story故事,
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首先,我想讲一个我的故事,
00:39
about the story故事 of this country国家 that you're all here in today今天.
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这个故事是关于在座各位脚下的这个国家(卡塔尔)。
00:43
And of course课程, most of you have had three meals today今天,
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相信诸位今天都已进三餐,
00:46
and probably大概 will continue继续 to have after this event事件.
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或许会在活动后再吃点夜宵。
00:51
So going in, what was Qatar卡塔尔 in the 1940s?
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那好,上个世纪四十年代的卡塔尔是什么样的呢?
00:55
We were about 11,000 people living活的 here.
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那时这里有大约一万一千名居民。
00:59
There was no water. There was no energy能源, no oil, no cars汽车, none没有 of that.
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这里没饮用水、没能源、没石油、没有汽车,什么也没有。
01:06
Most of the people who lived生活 here
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大多数住在这里的人
01:08
either lived生活 in coastal沿海 villages村庄, fishing钓鱼,
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要么住在沿海村庄,靠打渔为生,
01:10
or were nomads游牧民族 who roamed漫游 around with the environment环境 trying to find water.
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要么过着游牧人的生活,四处飘游寻找水源。
01:16
None没有 of the glamour魅力 that you see today今天 existed存在.
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根本不像你今天所见到的这般辉煌。
01:20
No cities城市 like you see today今天 in Doha多哈 or Dubai迪拜 or Abu阿布 Dhabi阿布扎比 or Kuwait科威特 or Riyadh利雅得.
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那时也没有像多哈、迪拜、阿布扎比、科威特或利雅得这样的城市。
01:25
It wasn't that they couldn't不能 develop发展 cities城市.
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不是人们不能发展城市,
01:27
Resources资源 weren't there to develop发展 them.
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而是匮乏的资源不允许城市的发展。
01:29
And you can see that life expectancy期待 was also short.
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那时人们的寿命也短。
01:32
Most people died死亡 around the age年龄 of 50.
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大多数人在 50 岁左右就过世了。
01:34
So let's move移动 to chapter章节 two: the oil era时代.
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让我们翻开第二章:石油时代。
01:38
1939, that's when they discovered发现 oil.
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1939 年,人们发现了石油。
01:41
But unfortunately不幸, it wasn't really fully充分 exploited利用 commercially商业
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只可惜,直到二战结束后
01:46
until直到 after the Second第二 World世界 War战争.
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石油才得到大规模的商业开采。
01:48
What did it do?
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石油到底发挥了什么作用?
01:51
It changed the face面对 of this country国家, as you can see today今天 and witness见证.
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正如你亲眼所见,它改变了这个国家的面貌。
01:54
It also made制作 all those people who roamed漫游 around the desert沙漠 --
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它也使得那些一度在沙漠中游荡、
01:58
looking for water, looking for food餐饮,
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四处寻找水和食物、
02:01
trying to take care关心 of their livestock家畜 -- urbanize城市化.
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设法养活他们牲畜的游牧人走上了城市化的发展道路。
02:05
You might威力 find this strange奇怪,
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也许你会感到奇怪,
02:07
but in my family家庭 we have different不同 accents口音.
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我的家人有不同的口音。
02:11
My mother母亲 has an accent口音 that is so different不同 to my father父亲,
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比如我父母的口音截然不同,
02:15
and we're all a population人口 of about 300,000 people in the same相同 country国家.
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尽管我们都是这个约有 30 万人口的国家的子民。
02:20
There are about five or six accents口音 in this country国家 as I speak说话.
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这个国家有大概五六种不同的口音——这些口音我都会讲。
02:23
Someone有人 says, "How so? How could this happen发生?"
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有人问:“这是怎么回事?”
02:27
Because we lived生活 scattered疏散.
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因为我们过去过着散居的生活。
02:29
We couldn't不能 live生活 in a concentrated集中 way simply只是 because there was no resources资源.
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因为没有资源,我们没办法集中地生活。
02:34
And when the resources资源 came来了, be it oil,
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而有了石油资源以后,
02:38
we started开始 building建造 these fancy幻想 technologies技术
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我们开始发展先进科技
02:41
and bringing使 people together一起 because we needed需要 the concentration浓度.
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将人们集中起来,因为我们需要集中。
02:45
People started开始 to get to know each other.
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人们开始相互认识。
02:47
And we realized实现 that there are some differences分歧 in accents口音.
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于是我们发现,原来大家的口音都不一样。
02:51
So that is the chapter章节 two: the oil era时代.
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以上就是第二章:石油时代。
02:54
Let's look at today今天.
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再来看看今天。
02:56
This is probably大概 the skyline天际线 that most of you know about Doha多哈.
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这可能是今天大多数人所知道的多哈风貌。
03:01
So what's the population人口 today今天?
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如今的人口有多少呢?
03:02
It's 1.7 million百万 people.
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大约一百七十万。
03:04
That is in less than 60 years年份.
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时间仅仅过去不到 60 年。
03:07
The average平均 growth发展 of our economy经济 is about 15 percent百分 for the past过去 five years年份.
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在过去的 5 年里,我们的经济平均增长了约15%。
03:13
Lifespan寿命 has increased增加 to 78.
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人均寿命也提高到 78 岁。
03:16
Water consumption消费 has increased增加 to 430 liters.
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人均用水量达到四百三十升,
03:21
And this is amongst其中包括 the highest最高 worldwide全世界.
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列居世界用水之最。
03:24
From having no water whatsoever任何
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从水资源匮乏
03:26
to consuming消费 water to the highest最高 degree, higher更高 than any other nation国家.
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到世界顶级用水国。
03:32
I don't know if this was a reaction反应 to lack缺乏 of water.
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我不知道是不是“物极必反”的原因在作怪。
03:35
But what is interesting有趣 about the story故事 that I've just said?
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这个故事里有意思的是:
03:42
The interesting有趣 part部分 is that we continue继续 to grow增长
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我们的经济还在继续增长——
03:45
15 percent百分 every一切 year for the past过去 five years年份 without water.
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在没有淡水的情况下,过去的 5 年里,每年经济增长15%。
03:51
Now that is historic历史性. It's never happened发生 before in history历史.
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这是史无前例的,或者说我们创造了历史。
03:56
Cities城市 were totally完全 wiped out because of the lack缺乏 of water.
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城市由于缺水而荡然无存。
04:00
This is history历史 being存在 made制作 in this region地区.
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这是这一地域从前的历史。
04:03
Not only cities城市 that we're building建造,
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与其说我们的前辈曾在建造城市,
04:05
but cities城市 with dreams and people who are wishing希望 to be scientists科学家们, doctors医生.
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倒不如说他们曾在编织梦想。他们不仅梦想着建造城市, 也梦想着成为科学家和医生。
04:10
Build建立 a nice不错 home, bring带来 the architect建筑师, design设计 my house.
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建造美丽的家园,找来设计师设计自己的房子。
04:13
These people are adamant坚决 that this is a livable适于居住的 space空间 when it wasn't.
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这些人坚信这片贫瘠的土地是生机勃勃的。
04:19
But of course课程, with the use of technology技术.
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当然,没有科技的支撑,这也只能是梦想。
04:21
So Brazil巴西 has 1,782 millimeters毫米 per year of precipitation沉淀 of rain.
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巴西每年有 1782 毫米的降雨量
04:28
Qatar卡塔尔 has 74, and we have that growth发展 rate.
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卡塔尔却仅有 74 毫米,但我们的城市发展速度飞快。
04:31
The question is how.
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问题是,
04:33
How could we survive生存 that?
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我们如何在极度缺水的情况下
04:36
We have no water whatsoever任何.
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维持高速发展。
04:38
Simply只是 because of this gigantic巨大, mammoth长毛象 machine called desalination海水淡化.
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答案很简单,我们有这些庞大的海水淡化装置。
04:44
Energy能源 is the key factor因子 here. It changed everything.
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能源是关键因素,它改变了一切。
04:48
It is that thing that we pump out of the ground地面, we burn烧伤 tons of,
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它就是我们从地下抽出并大量使用的石油,
04:53
probably大概 most of you used it coming未来 to Doha多哈.
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在座各位能到多哈,可能就是靠它的功劳。
04:56
So that is our lake, if you can see it.
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因此,石油就像我们的无形的湖泊。
04:59
That is our river.
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它就像我们的河流。
05:01
That is how you all happen发生 to use and enjoy请享用 water.
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多亏了它,大家才能有幸用上淡水。
05:06
This is the best最好 technology技术 that this region地区 could ever have: desalination海水淡化.
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这是这一地区有史以来最伟大的科技:海水淡化技术。
05:13
So what are the risks风险?
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那么有没有风险呢?
05:15
Do you worry担心 much?
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您有担心过吗?
05:16
I would say, perhaps也许 if you look at the global全球 facts事实,
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我想说,当我们放眼全球,
05:20
you will realize实现, of course课程 I have to worry担心.
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您就会意识到,我的担心并不多余。
05:23
There is growing生长 demand需求, growing生长 population人口.
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人口日益增长,对石油的需求也随之增加。
05:25
We've我们已经 turned转身 seven billion十亿 only a few少数 months个月 ago.
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就在几个月前,全球人口已经突破了 70 亿。
05:29
And so that number also demands需要 food餐饮.
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随之而来的是对食物需求的增长。
05:32
And there's predictions预测 that we'll be nine billion十亿 by 2050.
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有预言说到 2050 年全球人口将达到 90 亿。
05:35
So a country国家 that has no water
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像我们这样缺水的国家
05:38
has to worry担心 about what happens发生 beyond its borders国界.
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不得不担心全球的事态发展。
05:42
There's also changing改变 diets饮食.
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饮食习惯也在改变。
05:44
By elevating提升 to a higher更高 socio-economic社会经济 level水平,
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随着社会经济水平上升到新的高度,
05:48
they also change更改 their diet饮食.
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人们的饮食习惯也在改变。
05:50
They start开始 eating more meat and so on and so forth向前.
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人们开始食用更多的肉,等等等等。
05:53
On the other hand, there is declining下降 yields产量
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另一方面,粮食产量正在下降
05:56
because of climate气候 change更改 and because of other factors因素.
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因为气候变化和其它因素。
05:59
And so someone有人 has to really realize实现 when the crisis危机 is going to happen发生.
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当危机即将发生的时候,总得有人能够真正察觉。
06:04
This is the situation情况 in Qatar卡塔尔, for those who don't know.
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卡塔尔不为人知的情况是,
06:07
We only have two days of water reserve保留.
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我们仅有两天的淡水储备。
06:11
We import进口 90 percent百分 of our food餐饮,
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我们90%的粮食是进口的,
06:13
and we only cultivate培育 less than one percent百分 of our land土地.
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我们仅有不到国土面积1%的耕地。
06:17
The limited有限 number of farmers农民 that we have
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我们人数有限的农民
06:19
have been pushed out of their farming农业 practices做法
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都被迫抛弃他们的农作
06:23
as a result结果 of open打开 market市场 policy政策 and bringing使 the big competitions比赛, etc等等., etc等等.
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由于开放的市场政策和强大的竞争等等原因。
06:28
So we also face面对 risks风险.
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因此我们也面临风险。
06:32
These risks风险 directly affect影响 the sustainability可持续性 of this nation国家 and its continuity连续性.
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这些风险直接影响着这个国家的可持续性和延续性。
06:39
The question is, is there a solution?
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但是有没有解决办法呢?
06:41
Is there a sustainable可持续发展 solution?
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有没有可持续性的办法?
06:43
Indeed确实 there is.
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其实是有的。
06:45
This slide滑动 sums总和 up thousands数千 of pages网页 of technical技术 documents文件
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这张幻灯片总结了数千页技术文档
06:50
that we've我们已经 been working加工 on over the past过去 two years年份.
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都是我们过去两年的工作成果。
06:52
Let's start开始 with the water.
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让我们从水说起。
06:54
So we know very well -- I showed显示 you earlier -- that we need this energy能源.
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大家很清楚——正如我刚才所说——我们需要这种能源。
06:57
So if we're going to need energy能源, what sort分类 of energy能源?
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那么我们到底需要哪种能源呢?
07:00
A depletable耗竭 energy能源? Fossil化石 fuel汽油?
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一种耗竭性能源?化石燃料?
07:03
Or should we use something else其他?
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或许我们可以用其它能源?
07:05
Do we have the comparative比较 advantage优点 to use another另一个 sort分类 of energy能源?
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我们有没有相对优势去用另一种能源?
07:09
I guess猜测 most of you by now realize实现 that we do: 300 days of sun太阳.
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我猜大多数人都会想到:我们每年有 300 天的充足日照。
07:13
And so we will use that renewable可再生 energy能源 to produce生产 the water that we need.
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因而,我们将使用这种可再生能源来生产我们需要的淡水。
07:18
And we will probably大概 put 1,800 megawatts兆瓦 of solar太阳能 systems系统
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而且我们可能会配备1800兆瓦的太阳能系统
07:23
to produce生产 3.5 million百万 cubic立方体 meters of water.
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去生产 350 万立方米的淡水。
07:26
And that is a lot of water.
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这可是大量的淡水呀。
07:28
That water will go then to the farmers农民,
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这些水会被农民所用,
07:30
and the farmers农民 will be able能够 to water their plants植物,
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农民会有充足的水灌溉作物,
07:33
and they will be able能够 then to supply供应 society社会 with food餐饮.
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进而为社会提供食物。
07:37
But in order订购 to sustain支持 the horizontal line线 --
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但为了维持图示中的水平线——
07:39
because these are the projects项目, these are the systems系统 that we will deliver交付 --
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因为这些是我们要交付的项目和系统——
07:42
we need to also develop发展 the vertical垂直 line线:
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我们也需要发展那条垂直线:
07:45
system系统 sustenance营养, high-level高水平 education教育, research研究 and development发展,
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系统支持、高等教育、研究与发展、
07:50
industries行业, technologies技术, to produce生产 these technologies技术 for application应用, and finally最后 markets市场.
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工业、科技,以研制出这些应用技术,最终投放市场。
07:55
But what gels凝胶 all of it, what enables使 it, is legislation立法, policies政策, regulations法规.
132
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但是凝结和推进这些做法的是:立法、政策和制度。
08:01
Without没有 it we can't do anything.
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没有这些,一切都是空谈。
08:03
So that's what we are planning规划 to do.
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这就是我们规划要做的事。
08:05
Within two years年份 we should hopefully希望 be doneDONE with this plan计划
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在接下来的两年中,我们有希望完成这一规划
08:09
and taking服用 it to implementation履行.
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1967
并落实这一规划。
08:11
Our objective目的 is to be a millennium千年 city, just like many许多 millennium千年 cities城市 around:
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我们的目标是建立一个千年之城,就像我们周围许多的千年之城:
08:17
Istanbul伊斯坦布尔, Rome罗马, London伦敦, Paris巴黎, Damascus大马士革, Cairo开罗.
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伊斯坦布尔、罗马、伦敦、巴黎、大马士革、开罗。
08:24
We are only 60 years年份 old, but we want to live生活 forever永远
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我们虽仅有 60 年的历史,但我们渴望永生
08:28
as a city, to live生活 in peace和平.
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一城之中,和平相处。
08:33
Thank you very much.
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谢谢!
08:35
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by 文进 肖
Reviewed by Psycho Decoder

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Fahad Al-Attiya - Food security expert
Fahad Al-Attiya's job is to maintain food security in Qatar, a country that has no water and imports 90 percent of its food.

Why you should listen

Fahad Bin Mohammed Al-Attiya has his work cut out for him: His home, Qatar, has found itself a newly oil-rich country with an economy growing at an average rate of 15 percent a year, with a rapidly expanding population. That burst in population has been accompanied by a huge surge in water consumption. So what's so strange about that? -- Qatar has virtually no water. In comparison to Brazil's annual 1782 mm of rain, Qatar's annual rainfall is 74 mm.

Al-Attiya is the Chairman of Qatar’s National Food Security Programme, and he is tasked with making food secure -- and keeping it that way -- in a place that has no water and imports 90 percent of its food. He hopes that his program's innovations in sustainable agriculture, especially in arid regions, can help other countries deal with dwindling food supplies due to extreme climate change.

More profile about the speaker
Fahad Al-Attiya | Speaker | TED.com