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Novoa V, Rojas O, Ahumada-Rudolph R, Arumí JL, Munizaga J, de la Barrera F, Cabrera-Pardo JR, Rojas C. Water footprint and virtual water flows from the Global South: Foundations for sustainable agriculture in periods of drought. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 869:161526. [PMID: 36681330 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Revised: 12/23/2022] [Accepted: 01/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Freshwater availability has decreased alarmingly worldwide, with agriculture playing a vital role in this trend. The assessment of the agricultural water footprint (WFagricultural) and virtual water flows (VWF) is fundamental not only in local water resources management and protection, but also in our understanding of the synergies between local water consumption and global markets. Thus, the WFagricultural - broken down into its components (blue, green, and gray) - of the leading 21 crops (grouped in fruit, legumes, cereals, and vegetables), grown in four basins with the most significant agricultural activity in central Chile was determined, estimated in two consecutive years 2017-2018. In addition, due to their great importance in exports, VWFs were assessed, establishing connections according to their origins and destinations. The results show that the green and gray water footprints increased significantly in the south-central basins, while blue water consumption increased in the basins of the central zone, reflecting an evident WFagricultural transition in accord with latitude and climate conditions. Furthermore, VWF showed an annual increase of 44 %, in about 116 destinations, with Asia, Europe, and North America being the preferred destinations, with annual variations of VWFblue- gray associated with increases in exports of apples, cherries, grapes, blueberries, and walnuts, market preferences and growing areas. The present study is an initial step toward sustainable agriculture in a commodity exporting country, one that is relevant in the exploitation of virtual water yet faces severe water deficit problems, distribution, and local water policies. Therefore, contributing to encouraging the efficiency and value of water in the process of a new institutional framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa Novoa
- Departamento de Planificación Territorial y Sistemas Urbanos, Facultad de Ciencias Ambientales, Centro EULA, Universidad de Concepción, Víctor Lamas 1290, PO Box 160-C., Concepción, Chile.
| | - Octavio Rojas
- Departamento de Planificación Territorial y Sistemas Urbanos, Facultad de Ciencias Ambientales, Centro EULA, Universidad de Concepción, Víctor Lamas 1290, PO Box 160-C., Concepción, Chile.
| | - Ramón Ahumada-Rudolph
- Laboratorio de Química Aplicada y Sustentable (LabQAS), Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad del Bío-Bío, Avenida Collao 1202, PO Box 5-C., 4051381 Concepción, Chile.
| | - José Luis Arumí
- Departamento de Recursos Hídricos, Facultad de Ingeniería Agrícola, Centro de Recursos Hídricos para la Agricultura y la Minería CRHIAM, Universidad de Concepción, Vicente Méndez 595, Chillan, Chile.
| | - Juan Munizaga
- Departamento de Planificación Territorial y Sistemas Urbanos, Facultad de Ciencias Ambientales, Centro EULA, Universidad de Concepción, Víctor Lamas 1290, PO Box 160-C., Concepción, Chile.
| | - Francisco de la Barrera
- Departamento de Planificación Territorial y Sistemas Urbanos, Facultad de Ciencias Ambientales, Centro EULA, Universidad de Concepción, Víctor Lamas 1290, PO Box 160-C., Concepción, Chile; Centro de Desarrollo Urbano Sustentable CEDEUS, Universidad de Concepción, Víctor Lamas 1290, PO Box 160-C., Concepción, Chile.
| | - Jaime R Cabrera-Pardo
- Laboratorio de Química Aplicada y Sustentable, Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Tarapacá, 18 de Septiembre 2222, Arica, Chile.
| | - Carolina Rojas
- Instituto de Estudios Urbanos y Territoriales, Centro de Desarrollo Urbano Sustentable CEDEUS, Instituto Milenio de Socio-Ecología Costera SECOS, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, El Comendador 1916, Providencia, Santiago, Chile.
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Li J, Huang K, Yu Y, Qu S, Xu M. Telecoupling China's City-Level Water Withdrawal with Distant Consumption. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023; 57:4332-4341. [PMID: 36857490 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c00757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Trade causes the geospatial separation of production and consumption, which drives telecoupling between resource utilization and distant consumption. While benefiting the economy, trade can also exacerbate resource use inequality among regions. Here, we propose telecoupled water withdrawal (TWW) to examine the impact of distant consumption on local water resources, defined as local water withdrawal driven remotely by consumption in other regions. We characterize the TWW in China in 2015 at the city level (350 cities) using a nested multiregional input-output model. We find that approximately 20% of TWW is linked to foreign consumption, more than a quarter of which is driven by the United States. Moreover, cities with high TWW are concentrated on the Southeast coast and in Northwest China. Cities in Xinjiang province (Northwest China) account for 12% of the national TWW but only 0.7% of China's GDP. Our findings shed light on the telecoupling of pressure on local water resources in China cities and distant consumption at the global scale, calling for joint efforts by the contributors and beneficiaries of TWW to ensure the synergistic sustainability of water resources and trade.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jixuan Li
- Beijing Key Lab for Source Control Technology of Water Pollution, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Kai Huang
- Beijing Key Lab for Source Control Technology of Water Pollution, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Yajuan Yu
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Shen Qu
- School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
- Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Ming Xu
- School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
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Xin M, Wang J, Xing Z. Decline of virtual water inequality in China's inter-provincial trade: An environmental economic trade-off analysis. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 806:150524. [PMID: 34852433 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2021] [Revised: 09/12/2021] [Accepted: 09/18/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The trade-off between economic growth and environmental conservation is a significant factor in national environmental management. Previous studies have revealed that there are substantial water resources embodied in the inter-regional trade of China, but there is a scarcity of studies analyzing the cost-benefit inequality in trade, which should be considered when developing water resource allocation and conservation policies. The aim of the present study was to fill the gap in existing research by constructing a novel virtual water inequality index based on the net transfers of virtual water and value added between trading provinces. The results of the present study reveal that the virtual water trade of China accounts for about a third of the annual water use thereof and tends to flow from interior developing provinces to coastal developed provinces. Over 70% of consumption-based water consumption of richer provinces (Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai) is imported from other regions; however, approximately 60% of the value added triggered by the final consumption of said regions is retained within the region. When trading with rich provinces, several developing provinces with rich water resources, such as Xinjiang and Heilongjiang, not only incur net water outflows but also suffer a negative balance of value added, thereby resulting in the occurrence of virtual water inequality. However, with the coordinated development of China's economy, the problem of virtual water inequality in China's inter-provincial trade has been alleviated to some extent. Advocating water pricing system reform to reflect local water scarcity is suggested, especially in arid regions. Additionally, a virtual water compensation scheme considering cost-benefit inequality in trade may also be a practical solution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minglun Xin
- School of Business, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
| | - Jigan Wang
- School of Business, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
| | - Zhencheng Xing
- School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
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Nugroho AD, Bhagat PR, Magda R, Lakner Z. The impacts of economic globalization on agricultural value added in developing countries. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0260043. [PMID: 34788316 PMCID: PMC8598014 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 10/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Countries in the world have various indices for the implementation of economic globalization (EG). This refers to positive and negative impacts arising from its implementation, especially in agriculture. This sector is still a basic source of existence in developing countries. At the same time, these countries have been unable to optimize their agricultural value-added (AVA) and only earn a low level of income. That way, developing countries need to take advantage of EG to increase income from agricultural exports and farmers' welfare. Other than that, there has been no study examining the impacts of EG on AVA in developing countries. So, this study intends to evaluate the impacts of the exchange rates, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, total agricultural export values, agricultural import duties, and fertilizer imports on AVA in developing countries. The panel data technique is used to assess its impact in 17 developing countries during 2006-2018. The study showed that FDI inflows and agricultural export values increase AVA in developing countries. In this study, EG positively impacts developing countries, but its implementation must pay attention to achieve sustainable development goals. We recommend developing countries focus on investments in human capital and technologies (or R&D), ensure foreign investors collaborate with local agricultural firms, increase agricultural exports, and create a conducive economic system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agus Dwi Nugroho
- Doctoral School of Economic and Regional Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Godollo, Hungary
- Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
| | - Priya Rani Bhagat
- Doctoral School of Economic and Regional Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Godollo, Hungary
| | - Robert Magda
- Institute of Economic Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Godollo, Hungary
- North-West University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa
| | - Zoltan Lakner
- Institute of Economic Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Godollo, Hungary
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