A/HRC/43/44/Add.1 the most flood-prone areas in the world. Extreme events, mainly floods, landslides and mudslides, cost the country an estimated $70–80 million annually.38 87. In Guba, farmers confirmed that climate change is more and more visible with increasing temperatures. Water shortages are one of their main concerns. Increased use of pesticides is polluting water resources and debilitating the soil. As part of government interest in developing the agricultural sector, it provides subsidies to farmers for the purchase of pesticides. The use of pesticides has increased alarmingly by 12–15 times in the past few years. Some very toxic pesticides, such as glyphosate, now banned in many countries, will inevitably have a negative impact on human health and encourage soil degradation and loss of biodiversity. 88. The use of organic fertilizers is minimal in the country, mainly because they are neither accessible nor affordable. Only in the mountainous areas are farmers not using pesticides and are producing agricultural products organically. The land under organic management represents 0.8 per cent of all agricultural land. 39 Only consumers who understand and value the quality and safety of food prefers organic products. Moreover, organic products are more expensive than conventional products. Consumers who have no purchasing power cannot afford organic products. 89. Azerbaijan has a law on organic agriculture, adopted in 2008, which is not fully implemented. 40 The legislation has been adopted but the necessary resources for its implementation have not been provided.41 90. The Special Rapporteur has concluded that organic agriculture and agroecology are not widely understood by producers and consumers and are still not supported by the Government. It is vitally important to start with organic agriculture as early as possible in order to be competitive on the export market, especially while the agricultural sector is becoming such an important item in the economy. Moreover, organic agriculture and agroecology are major alternatives to conventional farming for reducing environmental pollution and mitigating climate change by reducing greenhouse gases (see A/70/287). B. Water resources 91. Azerbaijan is currently facing a striking problem of water scarcity. The Special Rapporteur consistently heard complaints from farmers about water shortage problems and the consequences for their daily work and survival. 92. Major water users in Azerbaijan are industry (11,300 m3 is consumed by fossil fuel power plants) agriculture, fisheries and processing. Major water consumption in agriculture is accounted for by irrigation (8,500 m3), the treatment of salinized soils (330 m3) and other activities (430 m3), totalling 9,260 million m3. Water losses in irrigation may be as much as 90 per cent owing to the ageing infrastructure.42 93. In addition to the impact of the increasing temperatures from climate change, water shortages derive from transboundary waters that are shared with Armenia. The water resources in Azerbaijan are assessed at 32.3 billion m3, of which 31.9 per cent is generated in the country and the rest come from adjacent territories, mainly from Georgia and 38 39 40 41 42 See United States Agency for International Development, “Climate change risk profile Azerbaijan” (January 2017), available at www.climatelinks.org/sites/default/files/asset/document/2017_USAID_Climate%20Change%20Risk %20Profile_Azerbaijan.pdf. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emerging Trends 2019, p. 46. Available at http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/aze82522e.pdf. FiBL and IFOAM, The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emerging Trends 2019, p. 154. FAO, Organic Agriculture in Azerbaijan. Current status and potentials for future development (2017), p. 14. 15