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The Water Footprint of Food Aid

Author

Listed:
  • Nicole Jackson

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 205 N. Mathews, Urbana, IL 61801, USA)

  • Megan Konar

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 205 N. Mathews, Urbana, IL 61801, USA)

  • Arjen Y. Hoekstra

    (University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500-AE Enschede, The Netherlands)

Abstract

Food aid is a critical component of the global food system, particularly when emergency situations arise. For the first time, we evaluate the water footprint of food aid. To do this, we draw on food aid data from theWorld Food Programme and virtual water content estimates from WaterStat. We find that the total water footprint of food aid was 10 km3 in 2005, which represents approximately 0.5% of the water footprint of food trade and 2.0% of the water footprint of land grabbing (i.e., water appropriation associated with large agricultural land deals). The United States is by far the largest food aid donor and contributes 82% of the water footprint of food aid. The countries that receive the most water embodied in aid are Ethiopia, Sudan, North Korea, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Notably, we find that there is significant overlap between countries that receive food aid and those that have their land grabbed. Multivariate regression results indicate that donor water footprints are driven by political and environmental variables, whereas recipient water footprints are driven by land grabbing and food indicators.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicole Jackson & Megan Konar & Arjen Y. Hoekstra, 2015. "The Water Footprint of Food Aid," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-22, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:6:p:6435-6456:d:50142
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Logan Cochrane & Danielle D. Legault, 2020. "The Rush for Land and Agricultural Investment in Ethiopia: What We Know and What We Are Missing," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-13, May.
    2. Arjen Y. Hoekstra & Ashok K. Chapagain & Guoping Zhang, 2015. "Water Footprints and Sustainable Water Allocation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-6, December.
    3. Fu, YiCheng & Zhao, Jinyong & Wang, Chengli & Peng, Wenqi & Wang, Qi & Zhang, Chunling, 2018. "The virtual Water flow of crops between intraregional and interregional in mainland China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 204-213.
    4. Hania Arif & Mamoona Midhat Kazmi & Aamer Amin, 2021. "Improving Rice Yield Through Insufficient Water," International Journal of Agriculture & Sustainable Development, 50sea, vol. 3(2), pages 33-38, May.
    5. Leonardo Bertassello & Marc F. Müller & Adam Wiechman & Gopal Penny & Marta Tuninetti & Michèle C. Müller-Itten, 2023. "Food demand displaced by global refugee migration influences water use in already water stressed countries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    6. Yuanhong Tian & Matthias Ruth & Dajian Zhu, 2017. "Using the IPAT identity and decoupling analysis to estimate water footprint variations for five major food crops in China from 1978 to 2010," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 19(6), pages 2355-2375, December.
    7. Yin Su & Qifang Zheng & Shenghai Liao, 2022. "Spatio-Temporal Characteristics of Water Ecological Footprint and Countermeasures for Water Sustainability in Japan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-16, August.
    8. Jaime Martínez-Valderrama & Jorge Olcina & Gonzalo Delacámara & Emilio Guirado & Fernando T. Maestre, 2023. "Complex Policy Mixes are Needed to Cope with Agricultural Water Demands Under Climate Change," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 37(6), pages 2805-2834, May.

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