Sustainable Water Use for International Agricultural Trade: The Case of Pakistan

Sustainable use of resources is critical, not only for people but for the whole planet. This is especially so for freshwater, which in many ways determines the food security and long-term development of nations. Here, we use virtual water trade to analyze the sustainability of water used by Pakistan...

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Main Authors: Tariq Ali, Abdul M. Nadeem, Muhammad F. Riaz, Wei Xie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-10-01
Series:Water
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/11/11/2259
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spelling doaj-d84fba06b1c74a269d43296005f1c7932020-11-24T21:50:36ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412019-10-011111225910.3390/w11112259w11112259Sustainable Water Use for International Agricultural Trade: The Case of PakistanTariq Ali0Abdul M. Nadeem1Muhammad F. Riaz2Wei Xie3School of Economics and Management, North China University of Technology, No. 5 Jinyuanzhuang Road, Beijing 100144, ChinaDepartment of Economics, Government College University Faisalabad, Allama Iqbal Road, Faisalabad 38000, PakistanDepartment of Economics, Government College University Faisalabad, Allama Iqbal Road, Faisalabad 38000, PakistanChina Center for Agricultural Policy, School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Wangkezhen Building, Peking University, No.52 Haidian Road Haidian District, Beijing 100871, ChinaSustainable use of resources is critical, not only for people but for the whole planet. This is especially so for freshwater, which in many ways determines the food security and long-term development of nations. Here, we use virtual water trade to analyze the sustainability of water used by Pakistan in the international trade of 15 major agricultural commodities between 1990 and 2016 and in 2030. Most of the existing country-level studies on virtual water trade focused on net virtual water importers, which are usually water-scarce countries as well. This is the first study to concentrate on a water-stressed net virtual water-exporting country. Our results show that Pakistan has been trading large and ever-increasing volumes of virtual water through agricultural commodities. Despite the overall small net export of total virtual water per year, Pakistan has been a net-exporter of large quantities of blue (fresh) virtual water through its trade, even by fetching a lower value for each unit of blue water exported. Given Pakistan’s looming water scarcity, exporting large volumes of blue virtual water may constrain the country’s food security and long-term economic development. Improving water use efficiency for the current export commodities, for example, rice and exploring less water-intensive commodities, for example, fruits and vegetables, for export purposes can help Pakistan achieve sustainable water use in the future.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/11/11/2259sustainabilityagriculturevirtual water tradebluegreen
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Tariq Ali
Abdul M. Nadeem
Muhammad F. Riaz
Wei Xie
spellingShingle Tariq Ali
Abdul M. Nadeem
Muhammad F. Riaz
Wei Xie
Sustainable Water Use for International Agricultural Trade: The Case of Pakistan
Water
sustainability
agriculture
virtual water trade
blue
green
author_facet Tariq Ali
Abdul M. Nadeem
Muhammad F. Riaz
Wei Xie
author_sort Tariq Ali
title Sustainable Water Use for International Agricultural Trade: The Case of Pakistan
title_short Sustainable Water Use for International Agricultural Trade: The Case of Pakistan
title_full Sustainable Water Use for International Agricultural Trade: The Case of Pakistan
title_fullStr Sustainable Water Use for International Agricultural Trade: The Case of Pakistan
title_full_unstemmed Sustainable Water Use for International Agricultural Trade: The Case of Pakistan
title_sort sustainable water use for international agricultural trade: the case of pakistan
publisher MDPI AG
series Water
issn 2073-4441
publishDate 2019-10-01
description Sustainable use of resources is critical, not only for people but for the whole planet. This is especially so for freshwater, which in many ways determines the food security and long-term development of nations. Here, we use virtual water trade to analyze the sustainability of water used by Pakistan in the international trade of 15 major agricultural commodities between 1990 and 2016 and in 2030. Most of the existing country-level studies on virtual water trade focused on net virtual water importers, which are usually water-scarce countries as well. This is the first study to concentrate on a water-stressed net virtual water-exporting country. Our results show that Pakistan has been trading large and ever-increasing volumes of virtual water through agricultural commodities. Despite the overall small net export of total virtual water per year, Pakistan has been a net-exporter of large quantities of blue (fresh) virtual water through its trade, even by fetching a lower value for each unit of blue water exported. Given Pakistan’s looming water scarcity, exporting large volumes of blue virtual water may constrain the country’s food security and long-term economic development. Improving water use efficiency for the current export commodities, for example, rice and exploring less water-intensive commodities, for example, fruits and vegetables, for export purposes can help Pakistan achieve sustainable water use in the future.
topic sustainability
agriculture
virtual water trade
blue
green
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/11/11/2259
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AT muhammadfriaz sustainablewateruseforinternationalagriculturaltradethecaseofpakistan
AT weixie sustainablewateruseforinternationalagriculturaltradethecaseofpakistan
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