Proceedings of the International Expert Meeting on Virtual Water Trade
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Edited by Virtual water trade A.Y. Hoekstra February 2003 Proceedings of the International Expert Meeting on Virtual Water Trade IHE Delft, The Netherlands 12-13 December 2002 Value of Water Research Report Series No. 12 Virtual water trade Proceedings of the International Expert Meeting on Virtual Water Trade Edited by A.Y. Hoekstra February 2003 Value of Water Research Report Series No. 12 IHE Delft P.O. Box 3015 2601 DA Delft The Netherlands Preface This report results from the International Expert Meeting on Virtual Water Trade that was held at IHE Delft, the Netherlands, 12-13 December 2002. The aim of the Expert Meeting was to exchange scientific knowledge on the subject of Virtual Water Trade, to review the state-of-the-art in this field of expertise, to discuss in-depth the various aspects relevant to the subject and to set the agenda for future research. In particular the meeting was used as a preparatory meeting to the Session on ‘Virtual Water Trade and Geopolitics’ to take place at the Third World Water Forum in Japan, March 2003. The expert meeting in Delft was the first meeting in a series of meetings organised in the framework of phase VI of the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) of UNESCO and WMO. The meetings fit in the programme ‘Water Interactions: Systems at Risk and Social Challenges’, in particular Focal Area 2.4 ‘Methodologies for Integrated River Basin Management’ and Focal Area 4.2 ‘Value of Water’. The series is organised under the auspices of the Dutch and German IHP Committees and the International Water Assessment Centre (IWAC). After the Forum in Japan, the collection of papers included in this volume will be reprinted, together with the conclusions from the Session on ‘Virtual Water Trade and Geopolitics’, as Report No. 65 of the IHP VI Series ‘Technical Documents in Hydrology’. Contents Part 1: Global studies 1. Virtual water: An introduction A.Y. Hoekstra 2. Virtual water trade: A quantification of virtual water flows between nations in relation to international crop trade A.Y. Hoekstra and P.Q. Hung 3. Virtual water trade: A quantification of virtual water flows between nations in relation to international trade of livestock and livestock products A.K. Chapagain, A.Y. Hoekstra 4. Value of virtual water in food: Principles and virtues D. Renault 5. Virtual water in food production and global trade: Review of methodological issues and preliminary results D. Zimmer and D. Renault 6. A water resources threshold and its implications for food security H. Yang, P. Reichert, K.C. Abbaspour and A.J.B. Zehnder 7. Virtual water trade in global governance K. Mori 8. Virtual water – virtual benefits? Scarcity, distribution, security and conflict reconsidered J. Warner Part 2: Regional case studies 9. Virtual water eliminates water wars? A case study from the Middle East J.A. Allan 10. The role of public policies in motivating virtual water trade, with an example from Egypt D. Wichelns 11. Exogenous water: A conduit to globalization of water resources M.J. Haddadin 12. The concept of ‘virtual water’ and its applicability in Lebanon M. El-Fadel and R. Maroun 13. The virtual water trade amongst countries of the SADC A. Earle and A. Turton 14. Regional food security and virtual water: Some natural, political and economic implications R. Meissner 15. Virtual water trade to Japan and in the world T. Oki, M. Sato, A. Kawamura, M. Miyake, S. Kanae and K. Musiake 16. Implications of virtual water concept on management of international water systems – cases of two Asian international river basins M. Nakayama Appendices I. Programme of the International Expert Meeting on Virtual Water Trade II. List of participants of the International Expert Meeting on Virtual Water Trade Contributors Abbaspour, K.C. Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG) Überlandstrasse 133, P.O. Box 611, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland E-mail [email protected] Allan, J.A. School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London Also: Geography Department, King’s College London The Strand, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom E-mail [email protected] / [email protected] Chapagain, A.K. UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education P.O. Box 3015, 2601 DA Delft, the Netherlands E-mail [email protected] Earle, A. African Water Issues Research Unit (AWIRU), University of Pretoria Suite 17, Private Bag X1, Vlaeberg, 8018, South Africa E-mail [email protected] El-Fadel, M. Water Resources Center, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut Bliss Street, P.O. Box 11-0236, Beirut, Lebanon E-mail [email protected] Haddadin, M.J. Former Minister of Water and Irrigation P.O. Box 67, Daboug, Amman 11822, Jordan E-mail [email protected] Hoekstra, A.Y. UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education P.O. Box 3015, 2601 DA Delft, the Netherlands E-mail [email protected] Hung, P.Q. UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education P.O. Box 3015, 2601 DA Delft, the Netherlands Kanae, S. Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan E-mail: [email protected] Kawamura, A. Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan Maroun, R. Water Resources Center, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut Bliss Street, P.O. Box 11-0236, Beirut, Lebanon Meissner, R. African Water Issues Research Unit (AWIRU), University of Pretoria 22 Felicity Court, 11 Hartford Road, Silverfields, Krugersdorp 1739, South Africa E-mail [email protected] Miyake, M. Graduate Course of Engineering, University of Tokyo 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan Mori, K. Faculty of Humanities and International Studies, Yokohama City University 22-2 Seto, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama 236-0027, Japan E-mail [email protected] Musiake, K. Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan E-mail [email protected] Nakayama, M. United Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology 3-5-8 Saiwai-cho, Fuchuu-city, Tokyo 183-8509, Japan E-mail [email protected] Oki, T. Research Institute for Humanity and Nature 335 Takashima-cho, Kyoto 602-0878, Japan E-mail [email protected] Also at: Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan E-mail [email protected] Reichert, P. Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG) Überlandstrasse 133, P.O. Box 611, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland Renault, D. Land and Water Development Division (AGL), FAO Viale delle Terme di Caracalle, 00100 Roma, Italy E-mail [email protected] Sato, M. Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan Turton, A. African Water Issues Research Unit (AWIRU), University of Pretoria 0002 Pretoria, South Africa E-mail [email protected] Warner, J.F. Wageningen University Irrigation and Water Engineering Group Nieuwe Kanaal 11 6709 PA Wageningen, the Netherlands E-mail [email protected] Wichelns, D. The California Water Institute and the Department of Agricultural Economics California State University, Fresno, California 93740-8001, USA E-mail [email protected] Yang, H. Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG) Überlandstrasse 133, P.O. Box 611, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland E-mail [email protected] Zehnder, A.J.B. Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG) Überlandstrasse 133, P.O. Box 611, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland E-mail [email protected] Zimmer, D. World Water Council 10, Place de La Joliette, 13002 Marseille, France E-mail [email protected] 1 Virtual water: An introduction A.Y. Hoekstra 1. Introduction Producing goods and services generally requires water. The water used in the production process of an agricultural or industrial product is called the 'virtual water' contained in the product. For producing 1 kg of grain we need for instance 1000-2000 kg of water, equivalent to 1-2 m3. Producing livestock products generally requires even more water per kilogram of product. For producing 1 kg of cheese we need for instance 5000- 5500 kg of water and for 1 kg of beef we need in average 16000 kg of water (Chapagain and Hoekstra, 2003). According to a recent study by Williams et al. (2002), the production of a 32-megabyte computer chip of 2 grams requires 32 kg of water. If one country exports a water-intensive product to another country, it exports water in virtual form. In this way some countries support other countries in their water needs. Trade of real water between water-rich and water- poor regions is generally impossible due to the large distances and associated costs, but trade in water-intensive products (virtual water trade) is realistic. For water-scarce countries it could therefore be attractive to achieve water security by importing water-intensive products instead of producing all water-demanding products domestically. Reversibly, water-rich countries could profit from their abundance of water resources by producing water-intensive products for export. The concept of ‘virtual water’ has been introduced by Tony Allan in the early nineties (Allan, 1993; 1994). It took nearly a decade to get global recognition of the importance of the concept for achieving regional and global water security. The first international meeting on the subject was held in December 2002 in Delft, the Netherlands. A special session is devoted to the issue of virtual water trade at the Third World Water Forum in Japan, March 2003.