The Water Footprint of Global Food Production
Agricultural production is the main consumer of water. Future population growth, income growth, and dietary shifts are expected to increase demand for water. The paper presents a brief review of the water footprint of crop production and the sustainability of the blue water footprint. The estimated...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Water |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/10/2696 |
| _version_ | 1797552479950340096 |
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| author | Mesfin M. Mekonnen Winnie Gerbens-Leenes |
| author_facet | Mesfin M. Mekonnen Winnie Gerbens-Leenes |
| author_sort | Mesfin M. Mekonnen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Agricultural production is the main consumer of water. Future population growth, income growth, and dietary shifts are expected to increase demand for water. The paper presents a brief review of the water footprint of crop production and the sustainability of the blue water footprint. The estimated global consumptive (green plus blue) water footprint ranges from 5938 to 8508 km<sup>3</sup>/year. The water footprint is projected to increase by as much as 22% due to climate change and land use change by 2090. Approximately 57% of the global blue water footprint is shown to violate the environmental flow requirements. This calls for action to improve the sustainability of water and protect ecosystems that depend on it. Some of the measures include increasing water productivity, setting benchmarks, setting caps on the water footprint per river basin, shifting the diets to food items with low water requirements, and reducing food waste. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:01:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4dcd86fa95a94863a708bb31ee4ccd38 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4441 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:01:39Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-4dcd86fa95a94863a708bb31ee4ccd382023-11-20T15:13:12ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412020-09-011210269610.3390/w12102696The Water Footprint of Global Food ProductionMesfin M. Mekonnen0Winnie Gerbens-Leenes1Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, USAIntegrated Research on Energy, Environment and Society (IREES), University of Groningen, Nijenborg 6, 9747 AG Groningen, The NetherlandsAgricultural production is the main consumer of water. Future population growth, income growth, and dietary shifts are expected to increase demand for water. The paper presents a brief review of the water footprint of crop production and the sustainability of the blue water footprint. The estimated global consumptive (green plus blue) water footprint ranges from 5938 to 8508 km<sup>3</sup>/year. The water footprint is projected to increase by as much as 22% due to climate change and land use change by 2090. Approximately 57% of the global blue water footprint is shown to violate the environmental flow requirements. This calls for action to improve the sustainability of water and protect ecosystems that depend on it. Some of the measures include increasing water productivity, setting benchmarks, setting caps on the water footprint per river basin, shifting the diets to food items with low water requirements, and reducing food waste.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/10/2696agriculturefood productionsustainable dietfood wastewater sustainability |
| spellingShingle | Mesfin M. Mekonnen Winnie Gerbens-Leenes The Water Footprint of Global Food Production Water agriculture food production sustainable diet food waste water sustainability |
| title | The Water Footprint of Global Food Production |
| title_full | The Water Footprint of Global Food Production |
| title_fullStr | The Water Footprint of Global Food Production |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Water Footprint of Global Food Production |
| title_short | The Water Footprint of Global Food Production |
| title_sort | water footprint of global food production |
| topic | agriculture food production sustainable diet food waste water sustainability |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/10/2696 |
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