1. Water Productivity in the Agricultural Sector
Water Resource Efficiency Workshop
16 – 17 June 2011, EEA, Copenhagen
Maite M. Aldaya
Consultant, UNEP
Associate, WFN
Copyright by Arjen Y. Hoekstra, 2009.
The presentation can be freely used for educational purposes, but not for commercial purposes.
When using this presentation or pieces from it, due credit should be given to the author. 1

2. The water footprint is an indicator of water use that looks at both direct and indirect water use. The water footprint of a nation is defined as the total amount of water that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the inhabitants of the nation.
The water footprint of a nation has two components. The internal water footprint is defined as the water use within the country in so far it is used to produce goods and services consumed by the national population. The external water footprint of a country is defined as the annual volume of water resources used in other countries to produce goods and services imported into and consumed in the country considered. 2

3. The water footprint is an indicator of water use that looks at both direct and indirect water use. The water footprint of a nation is defined as the total amount of water that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the inhabitants of the nation.
The water footprint of a nation has two components. The internal water footprint is defined as the water use within the country in so far it is used to produce goods and services consumed by the national population. The external water footprint of a country is defined as the annual volume of water resources used in other countries to produce goods and services imported into and consumed in the country considered. 3

4. ► volume of rainwater stored in the soil
Green water
► volume of rainwater stored in the soil
Blue water
► volume of fresh surface or groundwater
The water footprint is an indicator of water use that looks at both direct and indirect water use. The water footprint of a nation is defined as the total amount of water that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the inhabitants of the nation.
The water footprint of a nation has two components. The internal water footprint is defined as the water use within the country in so far it is used to produce goods and services consumed by the national population. The external water footprint of a country is defined as the annual volume of water resources used in other countries to produce goods and services imported into and consumed in the country considered. 4

5. Producing more goods and services using less water… Water efficiency
The accomplishment of a function, task, process, or result with the minimal amount of water feasible (m3/product units)
Water productivity
Ratio of the volume of benefit, i.e. output, service or satisfaction to the amount of water used in the production process (product units/m3)
The water footprint is an indicator of water use that looks at both direct and indirect water use. The water footprint of a nation is defined as the total amount of water that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the inhabitants of the nation.
The water footprint of a nation has two components. The internal water footprint is defined as the water use within the country in so far it is used to produce goods and services consumed by the national population. The external water footprint of a country is defined as the annual volume of water resources used in other countries to produce goods and services imported into and consumed in the country considered. 5

6. The water footprint concept
► The WF is an indicator of water use that looks at both direct and indirect water use of a consumer or producer.
► Water use is measured in terms of:
- water volumes consumed (evaporated or otherwise not returned)
- polluted per unit of time
► Geographically explicit
► A WF can be calculated for:
- process
- product
- consumer
- group of consumers (e.g. municipality, province, state, nation) - producer (e.g. a public organization, private enterprise)
The water footprint is an indicator of water use that looks at both direct and indirect water use. The water footprint of a nation is defined as the total amount of water that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the inhabitants of the nation.
The water footprint of a nation has two components. The internal water footprint is defined as the water use within the country in so far it is used to produce goods and services consumed by the national population. The external water footprint of a country is defined as the annual volume of water resources used in other countries to produce goods and services imported into and consumed in the country considered.
[Hoekstra et al., 2011] 6

7. National water accounting framework
Internal
water
footprint
External water footprint
WF of national consumpt.
Water use
for export
Virtual water import for re-export
Virtual
export + = WF
within
nation
import
Virtual water budget
Consumption
Export
Traditional
statistics on
water use
(withdrawals)
Production
Import

8. Water footprint of Spain
Distinctive aspects:
Integration of hydrological, ecological and economic aspects
Socio-political and institutional drivers pending
Participation of the stakeholders-farmers. WIN-WIN solution
In Spain the policy of ‘more crops and jobs per drop’
has to change to
‘more cash and care of nature per drop’
Is this feasible?

9. Water footprint of Spain
Water footprint of Spain (46 Km3) (2004)
84% 9% 7%
Internal WF (inside Spain)
13 Km3 (28%)
External WF (in other countries)
33 Km3 (72%)
96% 4%
99% 1%
Agricultural
Urban
Industrial
Source: based on Garrido et al. (2010)

10. Water productivity in agriculture (Spain)
Water apparent productivity and blue and green water footprint of crop production in Spanish agriculture (2002)
Source: Garrido et al. (2010)

11. Water productivity in agriculture (Spain)
Most blue water irrigation in Spain is used for low value crops:
10% of the blue water (mainly groundwater) produces 80% of the economic value of irrigated agriculture
80% of the blue water produces low value crops
Total water use in agriculture by crop productivity range as percent of volume and value added ( )
Source: Aldaya et al. (2008)

12. Water footprint of Spain
Livestock economic relevance has increased during the last decade;
Most livestock is exported (mainly pork) while grown with imported fodder (virtual water);
Increased water dependency.
Crop-related virtual water imports by country of origin
Source: Garrido et al. (2010)

13. Food (virtual water) trade drivers
Virtual water trade mitigates drought cycles (acts as a counter- cyclical effect)
Virtual water trade is mainly a consequence of agricultural (crop and livestock) policies:
boosts water and land productivity
favours specialisation and efficiency
permits more efficient use of available green water
Enables a closer connection of water uses in the basin with global water use

14. Decoupling economic growth from water use
Water footprint and virtual water trade per gross domestic product
Source: Garrido et al. (2010)

15. Water footprint of Spain
WF Guadiana river basin - green and blue (surface and groundwater)
- related economic analysis 50
100
150
200 25 Km
PROVINCES
LOWER GUADIANA
FORMER LOWER GUADIANA II OR TOP DOMAIN
UPPER GUADIANA
MIDDLE GUADIANA
GREEN WATER
BLUE SURFACE WATER
BLUE GROUNDWATER
Source: Aldaya and Llamas (2008)
BADAJOZ
CÁCERES
CUENCA
TOLEDO
SEVILLA
ALBACETE
CÓRDOBA
HUELVA
CIUDAD REAL
1286 93
835
905
745
142 74 43 34 21 10 3
TOP DOMAIN
Spanish regulation (2008) requires including the WF analysis in the River Basin Management Plans according to the EU WFD.

16. Water footprint in Spain
Incorporating the Water Footprint and Environmental Water Requirements into policy: Reflections from Doñana Region (Spain)
(Aldaya et al., 2010)

17. Water footprint of Spain
Water footprint into policy
Spain is the first country that has included a water footprint analysis into governmental policy making in the context of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) (2000/60/EC).
In 2008 the Spanish Government approved a regulation requiring the water footprint analysis for the development of the River Basin Management Plans according to the EU WFD (BOE, 2008).
Recently Spanish regulation about sustainable tourism mentions the water footprint (Plan FuturE 2010) (BOE, 2010)

18. Water footprint of Spain
Conclusions
1. The WF is a good method for IWRM, but needs further refinements
2. The food (virtual water) trade is usually driven by comparative advantages. The relative scarcity of water may not be a relevant driver.
3. Socio-political factors in water management might be as important as the environmental and economic ones. An equilibrium between utilitarian and intangible values is necessary.
4. Spanish situation suggests that it is time to change (in industrialized and emerging countries) from a policy of ‘more crops per drop’ to a policy of ‘more cash and care of nature per drop’
The cultural per capita water for food requirement (CWRF) is calculated based on actual food consumption patterns. Annual consumption of various food items over is obtained from FAOSTAT (FAO, 2006). Basic CWRF is estimated to lie around 300 m3 cap-1 y-1. Subsistence CWRF ranges from 505 to 730 m3 cap-1 y-1. These two numbers correspond to low and high subsistence levels respectively. The low subsistence level is determined by using the lower limits of food consumption for various food groups in the food pyramid, while the high subsistence level is determined by using the upper limits. CWRF at the high subsistence level is more than double the basic CWRF.
The cultural CWRF in the early 1960s was lower than the basic CWRF. The year 1961 is the last year of the so-called “three bad years”, -> calamities -> deaths of tens of millions directly caused by starvation. In 1961, the Chinese government started to introduce a series of new economic policies known as “readjustment, consolidation, filling-out, and raising standards” to boost
agricultural production.
Per capita water requirement for food (CWRF) has increased about 3.5 times between 1961 and 2003, largely due to an increase in the consumption of animal products. Although steadily increasing, the CWRF of China is still much lower than that of many developed countries.
Additionally, 3 scenarios were analysed, for low, medium and high levels of modernization, using projections of China’s future population from United Nation, 2006.

19. Conclusions Producing more goods and services….. ….with less water
.…with less impact
The cultural per capita water for food requirement (CWRF) is calculated based on actual food consumption patterns. Annual consumption of various food items over is obtained from FAOSTAT (FAO, 2006). Basic CWRF is estimated to lie around 300 m3 cap-1 y-1. Subsistence CWRF ranges from 505 to 730 m3 cap-1 y-1. These two numbers correspond to low and high subsistence levels respectively. The low subsistence level is determined by using the lower limits of food consumption for various food groups in the food pyramid, while the high subsistence level is determined by using the upper limits. CWRF at the high subsistence level is more than double the basic CWRF.
The cultural CWRF in the early 1960s was lower than the basic CWRF. The year 1961 is the last year of the so-called “three bad years”, -> calamities -> deaths of tens of millions directly caused by starvation. In 1961, the Chinese government started to introduce a series of new economic policies known as “readjustment, consolidation, filling-out, and raising standards” to boost
agricultural production.
Per capita water requirement for food (CWRF) has increased about 3.5 times between 1961 and 2003, largely due to an increase in the consumption of animal products. Although steadily increasing, the CWRF of China is still much lower than that of many developed countries.
Additionally, 3 scenarios were analysed, for low, medium and high levels of modernization, using projections of China’s future population from United Nation, 2006.

20. Conclusions Water efficiency and productivity
- Framework to inform and support decision-making
- Inform water allocation decisions
- Awareness raising
- Promote product transparency
- Eco-efficiency (operational and supply chain)
- Benchmarking
Challenges
- Database improvement (industrial blue water consumption)
- Uncertainties (data used and accounts)
- Communication (volumes and impacts)
- Governance (good governance structure for implementation)
- Water-pricing policies (incentives for efficient water use, role CAP)
The cultural per capita water for food requirement (CWRF) is calculated based on actual food consumption patterns. Annual consumption of various food items over is obtained from FAOSTAT (FAO, 2006). Basic CWRF is estimated to lie around 300 m3 cap-1 y-1. Subsistence CWRF ranges from 505 to 730 m3 cap-1 y-1. These two numbers correspond to low and high subsistence levels respectively. The low subsistence level is determined by using the lower limits of food consumption for various food groups in the food pyramid, while the high subsistence level is determined by using the upper limits. CWRF at the high subsistence level is more than double the basic CWRF.
The cultural CWRF in the early 1960s was lower than the basic CWRF. The year 1961 is the last year of the so-called “three bad years”, -> calamities -> deaths of tens of millions directly caused by starvation. In 1961, the Chinese government started to introduce a series of new economic policies known as “readjustment, consolidation, filling-out, and raising standards” to boost
agricultural production.
Per capita water requirement for food (CWRF) has increased about 3.5 times between 1961 and 2003, largely due to an increase in the consumption of animal products. Although steadily increasing, the CWRF of China is still much lower than that of many developed countries.
Additionally, 3 scenarios were analysed, for low, medium and high levels of modernization, using projections of China’s future population from United Nation, 2006.

21. Thanks!
The cultural per capita water for food requirement (CWRF) is calculated based on actual food consumption patterns. Annual consumption of various food items over is obtained from FAOSTAT (FAO, 2006). Basic CWRF is estimated to lie around 300 m3 cap-1 y-1. Subsistence CWRF ranges from 505 to 730 m3 cap-1 y-1. These two numbers correspond to low and high subsistence levels respectively. The low subsistence level is determined by using the lower limits of food consumption for various food groups in the food pyramid, while the high subsistence level is determined by using the upper limits. CWRF at the high subsistence level is more than double the basic CWRF.
The cultural CWRF in the early 1960s was lower than the basic CWRF. The year 1961 is the last year of the so-called “three bad years”, -> calamities -> deaths of tens of millions directly caused by starvation. In 1961, the Chinese government started to introduce a series of new economic policies known as “readjustment, consolidation, filling-out, and raising standards” to boost
agricultural production.
Per capita water requirement for food (CWRF) has increased about 3.5 times between 1961 and 2003, largely due to an increase in the consumption of animal products. Although steadily increasing, the CWRF of China is still much lower than that of many developed countries.
Additionally, 3 scenarios were analysed, for low, medium and high levels of modernization, using projections of China’s future population from United Nation, 2006.
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