The virtual water trade (also known as embedded or embodied water) is the hidden flow of water in food or other

commodities In economics, a commodity is an economic good, usually a resource, that has full or substantial fungibility: that is, the market treats instances of the good as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to who produced them. The price of a comm ...

that are

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

d from one place to another. The virtual water trade is the idea that when goods and services are exchanged, so is virtual water. Virtual water trade allows a new, amplified perspective on water problems: In the framewond balancing of different perspectives, basic conditions, and interests. Analytically, the concept enables one to distinguish between global, regional, and local levels and their linkages. However, the use of virtual water estimates may offer no guidance for policymakers seeking to ensure that environmental objectives are being met. For example, cereal grains have been major carriers of virtual water in countries where water resources are scarce. Therefore, cereal imports can play a crucial role in compensating local water deficit. However, low-income countries may not be able to afford such imports in the future which could lead to

food insecurity Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World F ...

and

starvation Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy intake, below the level needed to maintain an organism's life. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, dea ...

Concept

The virtual water concept, also known as embodied water, was coined by John Anthony Allan (Tony Allan) in 1993. He received the

Stockholm Water Prize Presented annually since 1991, the Stockholm Water Prize is an award that recognizes outstanding achievements in water related activities. Over the past three decades, Stockholm Water Prize Laureates have come from across the world and represente ...

for the concept in 2008. The virtual water trade is the idea that when goods and services are exchanged, so is virtual water. When a country imports one tonne of wheat instead of producing it domestically, it is saving about 1,300 cubic meters of real indigenous water. If this country is water-scarce, the water that is 'saved' can be used towards other ends. If the exporting country is water-scarce, however, it has exported 1,300 cubic meters of virtual water since the real water used to grow the wheat will no longer be available for other purposes. This has obvious strategic implications for countries that are water-constrained such as those found in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) area. Water-scarce countries like

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

discourage the export of oranges (relatively water intensive crops) precisely to prevent large quantities of water from being exported to different parts of the world. In recent years, the concept of virtual water trade has gained weight both in the scientific as well as in the political debate. The notion of the concept is ambiguous. It changes between an analytical, descriptive concept and a political induced strategy. As an analytical concept, virtual water trade represents an instrument that allows the identification and assessment of policy options not only in the scientific but also in the political discourse. As a politically induced strategy, the question if virtual water trade can be implemented in a

sustainable Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

way, whether the implementation can be managed in a social, economical, and ecological fashion, and for which countries the concept offers a meaningful option. The data that underlie the concept of virtual water can readily be used to construct water satellite accounts, and brought into economic models of international trade such as the

GTAP GTAP (the Global Trade Analysis Project) is a global network of researchers (mostly from universities, international organizations, and economic and climate/resource ministries of governments) who conduct quantitative analysis of international e ...

Computable General Equilibrium Model. Such a model can be used to study the economic implications of changes in the water supply or water policy, as well as the water resource implications of economic development and trade liberalization. In sum, virtual water trade allows a new, amplified perspective on water problems: In the framework of recent developments from a supply-oriented to demand-oriented management of water resources, it opens up new fields of

governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, social norm, norms, power (social and political), power or language of an organized society over a social system (family, tribe, formal organization, formal or informal organization, a ...

and facilitates differentiation and balancing of different perspectives, basic conditions, and interests. Analytically, the concept enables one to distinguish between global, regional, and local levels and their linkages. This means, that water resource problems have to be solved in ''problems'' if they cannot be successfully addressed in the local or regional watershed. Virtual water trade can thus overcome the hydro-centricity of a narrow watershed view. According to the proceedings of a 2006 conference in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, Germany, it seems reasonable to link the new concept with the approach of

integrated water resources management Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slight ...

Related terms

Water footprint

The concept of virtual water trade was introduced to refer to the idea that countries can save domestic water by importing food. Imported food, however, comes from somewhere. In 2002, Arjen Y. Hoekstra, while working for

UNESCO-IHE IHE Delft Institute for Water Education is the largest international graduate water education facility in the world and is based in Delft, Netherlands. Delft is a world renowned knowledge centre on water infrastructure, technology and sciences, an ...

, introduced the concept of

water footprint A water footprint shows the extent of water use in relation to consumption by people. The water footprint of an individual, community, or business is defined as the total volume of fresh water used to produce the goods and services consumed by th ...

. The water footprint shows the link between consumer goods or a consumption pattern and water use and pollution. Virtual water trade and water footprint can be seen as part of a bigger story: the globalization of water. For instance, it takes 1,340 cubic meters of water (based on the world average) to

produce Produce is a generalized term for many farm-produced crops, including fruits and vegetables (grains, oats, etc. are also sometimes considered ''produce''). More specifically, the term ''produce'' often implies that the products are fresh and g ...

one

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

. The precise volume can be more or less depending on climatic conditions and

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

practice. Hoekstra has defined the virtual-water content of a product (a commodity, good or service) as "the volume of

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

used to produce the product, measured at the place where the product was actually produced". It refers to the sum of the water use in the various steps of the production chain.

Embodied energy

Some researchers have attempted to use the methods of

energy analysis Life cycle assessment or LCA (also known as life cycle analysis) is a methodology for assessing environmental impacts associated with all the stages of the life cycle of a commercial product, process, or service. For instance, in the case of ...

, which aim to produce

embodied energy Embodied energy is the sum of all the energy required to produce any goods or services, considered as if that energy was incorporated or 'embodied' in the product itself. The concept can be useful in determining the effectiveness of energy-produ ...

estimates, to derive virtual, or embodied water estimates.

Virtual water content of selected products

The following table shows the average virtual water content of some selected products for a number of selected countries (m³/ton):

Limitations

The virtual water or the

concepts have faced lot of criticism. Some valid, others asking the indicators to be everything. Australia's National Water Commission considers that the measurement of virtual water has little practical value in decision making regarding the best allocation of scarce water resources.WA WATER (2014
Western Australia Branch Newsletter
June 2014, p. 1 Other limitations more specific to the

MENA MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...

(the Middle East & North Africa) region include the fact that importing food could pose the risk of further political dependence. The notion of "

self-sufficiency Self-sustainability and self-sufficiency are overlapping states of being in which a person or organization needs little or no help from, or interaction with, others. Self-sufficiency entails the self being enough (to fulfill needs), and a self-s ...

" has always been the pride of the MENA region.Expert Statement on Virtual Water by Dr. Hazim El-Naser and Mohammad Abbadi (2005).

References

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