1,721,001 research outputs found
Problems and progress in land, water and resources rights at the beginning of the third millennium
No full text
Water stranding in the energy and agriculture sectors: The case of hydraulic fracturing in water scarce irrigated regions
No full textIn this chapter, the authors analyze global shale deposits located in water scarce areas. They quantify the volume of irrigation water that could be allocated to the more profitable activity of oil and gas extraction, and quantify the consequent volume of irrigated crops that might remain water stranded. The water scarce shale deposits are located where 91% of current calorie production relies on irrigation water. Moreover, in these areas, there is not an expected major increase in water consumption from the agriculture sector because crop yield gaps – the difference between current and maximum attainable yields – has already been closed through irrigation. The authors analyze the socio-environmental risks for local populations and discuss how this reduction in food production might increase the reliance on food imports, thereby compromising the food security and livelihoods of local populations
The value generated by irrigation in the command areas of new agricultural dams in Africa
No full textRecent years have seen continued investments in new irrigation dams across Africa, which have led to the emergence of new irrigated areas in their vicinity (or ‘command areas’). The ability to irrigate land that was previously only rainfed allows for an increase in crop production and is therefore associated with an increase in the value generated by agriculture. What is the value produced by irrigation in the command areas of new major African dams? Here we use crop water modeling under a variety of crop distribution scenarios to determine the increase in agricultural value induced by irrigation in the ‘command’ areas adjacent to the major irrigation dams. We use these estimates to determine the shadow price of irrigation water in these regions along with the increase in land value and land's economic productivity. We focus on dams built in Africa between 2000 and 2015, which are clustered in northern, east, and southern Africa. This study provides a framework to determine the economic benefits of irrigation dams and evaluate the increase in agricultural revenues resulting from access to water for irrigation
A growing produce bubble: United States produce tied to Mexico's unsustainable agricultural water use
Full text linkGlobal analyses have revealed virtual drains and gains of water between trading countries, with Mexico ranking as one of the countries with the fastest increase in unsustainable water consumption in agriculture for export markets, since 2000. It is unclear, however, how Mexico has reshaped its crop production and associated reliance on freshwater resources to satisfy growing domestic and international markets, especially the United States (US). While the Mexico-US partnership has been identified as one supported by unsustainable irrigation water, the spatial understanding of its strain on water resources has remained at the national scale and without context of the crops driving the change. In this analysis, we focus on the evolution of Mexican agriculture since 1994, the year the North American Free Trade Agreement was enacted, to identify hotspots of water unsustainability in crop production in the domestic and US supply chain. Using a global process-based crop water model, we find that between 1994 and 2015, rainwater (or 'green' water) and irrigation (or 'blue') water consumed in the production of crops increased by one fourth nationally, while water in crops exported to the US doubled. Virtual export of blue water embodied in the trade of berries increased five orders of magnitude; a substantial growth in blue water export was also associated with trade to the US of cereals, fruits, nuts, vegetables, pulses, and tubers. Our results show that in Mexico irrigated water plays an increasingly prominent role in export agriculture, and that many healthy crops that dominate US imports from the world are grown in water scarce Mexican municipalities relying on unsustainable irrigation practices. This serves as a warning for the sustainability of future Mexican healthy food supplies, both for the domestic market and for export to the US
Testing the use of reimbursement data to obtain damage curves in urbanised areas: the case of the Piedmont flood on October 2000
No full textThis article analyses the assessment of economic damages in urbanised flooded areas by testing the use of reimbursement data to obtain damage curves. Data coming from field observation of the 2000 flood in Piedmont, Italy, are used and the influence of local features and topography, as well as urban patterns are studied. Our starting point is the assessment of individual flooded elements, whose damages result from slightly more than 7000 refund claims. Damage functions estimation is carried out by using water depth and flow velocities obtained by 2D inundation model. Results show the relationship of damage versus water depth and versus flow velocity are strongly nonlinear and urban patterns playing a major role in explaining the amount of damage under given conditions. Moreover, results provide useful information for future ex ante estimation of potential flood damages and rewarding risk reductions and management actions
A Blue Water Scarcity-Based Method for Hydrologically Sustainable Agricultural Expansion Design
No full textSustainable development and intergenerational responsibility entail the prudent use of natural resources. Water availability can constrain agriculture, a key sector in terms of resources consumed and goods and services provided. The sustainability of its intensification and expansion has been studied, often with a particular focus on water. Agricultural strategies have been based on local water availability, and some downstream effects have been evaluated. However, a method to identify and quantify hydrologically sustainable land use and crop use changes directly accounting for downstream effects is yet to be defined. We propose a framework to design land-use and crop-use changes preventing local and downstream effects. We apply it on of coffee plantations expansion in Kenya, a sector that is growing and planned to grow, given its agricultural, economic and social development potential, not without risks associated to hydroclimatic change. We use crop- and land-use specific hydrological modeling to simulate water scarcity impacts of coffee plantation expansion onto available suitable areas, and use the results to iteratively identify and filter out expansion areas increasing water scarcity locally or downstream. This assessment proves effective in preserving water availability, identifying 10% of the suitable and available areas as hydrologically sustainable. Total water footprints are similar in these expansion areas and in currently used areas, but expansion areas have higher precipitation-generated water availability. The proposed methodology locates and quantifies areas in a physically robust way, maintaining flexibility to the selected expansion scenario. Thus, the methodology is replicable for planning hydrologically agricultural development.A new methodology for designing sustainable agricultural expansion while preventing water scarcity is developedThe methodology selects areas with high water availability while ensuring that neither local nor downstream water scarcity is triggeredAn application on coffee expansion in Kenya finds more areas than foreseen by policy, leaving action space for further selection criteri
Water resources constraints in achieving silk production self-sufficiency in India
No full textOne of the main challenges for India is increasing food security and promoting economic development using the domestic finite and already stressed natural resources. In the last decades silk production has been booming in India in response to the 2025 silk self-sufficiency goal set by the Indian Ministry of Textile. It is not clear to which extent mulberry (Morus alba), used to feed silkworm in 70% of the total domestic silk production, can be expanded in the wastelands identified by the Indian Government as suitable for moriculture without both endangering natural resources and causing competition for natural resources with the food sector. This issue is here investigated by a) assessing mulberry water consumption (rain and irrigation) in the plantations presently cultivated and in all the wastelands selected by the government for the expansion of moriculture as well; b) analyzing annual and sub-annual water scarcity induced by mulberry plantations within the plantations; c) studying the potential competition for natural resources between food crops and mulberry. To this end the dynamic spatially distributed crop water balance WATNEEDS model has been used to analyze two different scenarios being the reference scenario considering the present climate and land cover, and the “silk expansion scenario” combining present climate and the new mulberry plantations. Results for the reference scenario show mulberry expansion areas already suffering food insecurity and water scarcity in the dry period. Here, the expansion of mulberry cultivation is shown to exacerbate water scarcity in pre-monsoon months especially in the North-Eastern Region affecting on a yearly scale eleven million people. Results also show expanding food production on wastelands rather than mulberry could be a viable solution for alleviating the burden of malnutrition
Socio-environmental impacts of diamond mining areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo
No full textThe mining industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) represents the most important sector of the country's economy, and the DRC belongs to the world top five diamond producers. Artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) of alluvial diamonds represents an important source of alternative income for subsistence farmers, but it also leads to several socio-environmental impacts: deforestation, river pollution, water resources exploitation, unhealthy, unregulated and sometimes dangerous work environments. We perform a data-driven comprehensive analysis of the impact of the diamond mining industry on natural resources and assess the potential relevance of these resources to the DRC food system. To this end, we evaluate land and water resources consumption associated with diamond mining from 2001 to 2018, cross-referencing high-resolution data on mines, land use and tree cover, and using a dynamic and spatially distributed agro-hydrological model. We leverage disaggregated agrological data to provide alternative resources allocation scenarios, and use subnational development indicators and spatially explicit conflict data to frame our analysis within the socio-economic context. We find that, despite the richness in natural resources of the DRC, the impact of diamond mining is relevant because of its effects on ecology, economy, and society. Resources and efforts currently put into the mining industry may have the potential to alleviate the malnourishment crisis in DRC if diverted towards the construction of a more structured and resilient food system. Phenomena such as the illicit trafficking of diamonds and their use to finance wars contribute to nullify the potential of mining as an alternative source of income for subsistence farmers
- …
