Food consumption patterns and their effect on water requirement in China

J. Liu (1) , H. H. G. Savenije (2, 3)

1 EAWAG - Swiss Federal Insitute of Aquatic Science and Technology [Dübendorf]
2 UNESCO-IHE
3 TU Delft - Delft University of Technology

It is widely recognized that food consumption patterns significantly impact water requirements. The aim of this paper is to quantify how food consumption patterns influence water requirements in China. The findings show that per capita water requirement for food (CWRF) has increased from 250 m³ cap^?1 y^?1 in 1961 to 780 m³ cap^?1 y^?1 in 2003, largely due to an increase in the consumption of animal products in recent decades. Although steadily increasing, the CWRF of China is still much lower than that of many developed countries. The total water requirement for food (TWRF) has been determined as 1023 km³ y^?1 in 2003. Three scenarios are proposed to project future TWRF, representing low, medium, and high levels of modernization (S1, S2, and S3, respectively). Analysis of these three scenarios indicates that TWRF will reach a maximum between 2020 and 2025, after which it is expected to decline. According to S2, the shift in food consumption patterns together with population growth may lead to an additional amount of required water of 114 km³ y^?1 in 2025, even after taking technological advances into consideration. This will undoubtedly put high pressure on China's already scarce water resources. China needs to strengthen "green water" management and to take advantage of "virtual water" import to meet the additional TWRF.

Domaines: Interfaces continentales, environnement; Océan, Atmosphère; Sciences de la Terre

J. Liu, H. H. G. Savenije. Food consumption patterns and their effect on water requirement in China. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions, 2008, 5 (1), pp.27-50. ⟨hal-00298920⟩