Assessing Green and Blue Water Footprints in the Supply Chain of Cocoa Production: A Case Study in the Northeast of Colombia
Cocoa is an important commercial crop in the tropics, and estimating the water footprint to target areas of improvement is a worthwhile effort. The main goal of this paper was to assess the regional green and blue water footprints (WF) of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) production in the department of No...
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doaj-8257cdb2ef52443c8d82317d72b97e942020-11-24T22:05:33ZengMDPI AGSustainability2071-10502017-12-011013810.3390/su10010038su10010038Assessing Green and Blue Water Footprints in the Supply Chain of Cocoa Production: A Case Study in the Northeast of ColombiaCarlos Andrés Naranjo-Merino0Oscar Orlando Ortíz-Rodriguez1Raquel A. Villamizar-G2Gaia Servicios Ambientales. Cll 32b sur-47-06, Envigado 050001, Antioquia, ColombiaDepartamento de Ingeniería Industrial, Universidad de Pamplona, Km 1 Bucaramanga, Campus Universitario, Pamplona 760032, Norte de Santander, ColombiaDepartamento de Microbiología, Universidad de Pamplona, Km 1 Bucaramanga, Campus Universitario, Pamplona 760032, Norte de Santander, ColombiaCocoa is an important commercial crop in the tropics, and estimating the water footprint to target areas of improvement is a worthwhile effort. The main goal of this paper was to assess the regional green and blue water footprints (WF) of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) production in the department of Norte de Santander, Colombia. Water footprint assessment was based on the Water Footprint Assessment Manual. The results show that the green water footprint was about 13,189 m3/ton, and the blue water footprint was 5687 m3/ton. The WF proposed method can be a good approximation for the uses of water for different crops, but weather conditions and hydrological modeling must be considered in extreme conditions, which would permit a much more detailed analysis for a region. This study allowed us to provide data on the cocoa water footprint, principally concentrating on elevated grain production in the department of Norte de Santander, Colombia. In addition, some of these results may positively contribute to water resource management improvement, especially regarding food security and water scarcity, both at the local and national levels. Therefore, the cocoa production process was analyzed from agronomic practices in settled crops, through the primary processing of the grain, to the procedures of grain selection and packaging. Thus, taking into consideration that most cocoa crops produced in Colombia are not irrigated, it is possible to implement productivity enhancement programs.https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/1/38blue footprintcocoaevapotranspirationgreen footprintvirtual waterwater footprint |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Carlos Andrés Naranjo-Merino Oscar Orlando Ortíz-Rodriguez Raquel A. Villamizar-G |
spellingShingle |
Carlos Andrés Naranjo-Merino Oscar Orlando Ortíz-Rodriguez Raquel A. Villamizar-G Assessing Green and Blue Water Footprints in the Supply Chain of Cocoa Production: A Case Study in the Northeast of Colombia Sustainability blue footprint cocoa evapotranspiration green footprint virtual water water footprint |
author_facet |
Carlos Andrés Naranjo-Merino Oscar Orlando Ortíz-Rodriguez Raquel A. Villamizar-G |
author_sort |
Carlos Andrés Naranjo-Merino |
title |
Assessing Green and Blue Water Footprints in the Supply Chain of Cocoa Production: A Case Study in the Northeast of Colombia |
title_short |
Assessing Green and Blue Water Footprints in the Supply Chain of Cocoa Production: A Case Study in the Northeast of Colombia |
title_full |
Assessing Green and Blue Water Footprints in the Supply Chain of Cocoa Production: A Case Study in the Northeast of Colombia |
title_fullStr |
Assessing Green and Blue Water Footprints in the Supply Chain of Cocoa Production: A Case Study in the Northeast of Colombia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessing Green and Blue Water Footprints in the Supply Chain of Cocoa Production: A Case Study in the Northeast of Colombia |
title_sort |
assessing green and blue water footprints in the supply chain of cocoa production: a case study in the northeast of colombia |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Sustainability |
issn |
2071-1050 |
publishDate |
2017-12-01 |
description |
Cocoa is an important commercial crop in the tropics, and estimating the water footprint to target areas of improvement is a worthwhile effort. The main goal of this paper was to assess the regional green and blue water footprints (WF) of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) production in the department of Norte de Santander, Colombia. Water footprint assessment was based on the Water Footprint Assessment Manual. The results show that the green water footprint was about 13,189 m3/ton, and the blue water footprint was 5687 m3/ton. The WF proposed method can be a good approximation for the uses of water for different crops, but weather conditions and hydrological modeling must be considered in extreme conditions, which would permit a much more detailed analysis for a region. This study allowed us to provide data on the cocoa water footprint, principally concentrating on elevated grain production in the department of Norte de Santander, Colombia. In addition, some of these results may positively contribute to water resource management improvement, especially regarding food security and water scarcity, both at the local and national levels. Therefore, the cocoa production process was analyzed from agronomic practices in settled crops, through the primary processing of the grain, to the procedures of grain selection and packaging. Thus, taking into consideration that most cocoa crops produced in Colombia are not irrigated, it is possible to implement productivity enhancement programs. |
topic |
blue footprint cocoa evapotranspiration green footprint virtual water water footprint |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/1/38 |
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