The role of virtual water for sustainable economic restructuring: evidence from Uzbekistan, Central Asia

Maksud Bekchanov, Anik Bhaduri, Manfred Lenzen and John P.A. Lamers

No 126872, Discussion Papers from University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF)

Abstract: Increases in water demand due to population growth, industrial development and urbanization necessitate economically efficient use of water resources worldwide. This is particularly true in the dryland zones of the world relying on irrigated agriculture for economic development such as in Uzbekistan, Central Asia. Due to ill-managed water resources and the dominance of high water intensive crops, water use efficiency in the region is very low. This challenges Uzbekistan to modernize its agricultural sectors and develop its industrial sectors guided by the principles of a "green economy", which are the basis for sustainable growth. Therefore, this study aims to prioritize economic sectors according to their sustainable growth potential. To this end, we employ a national inputoutput model to estimate economic backward and forward linkage measures and virtual water contents across the sectors. Our results indicate that developing agro-processing industries and the livestock sector rather than relying on the production of raw agricultural commodities such as cotton, wheat, and rice provides more sustainable economic development in Uzbekistan. However, to exploit these comparative advantages, the necessary market infrastructure and institutions as well as an increased control over wastewaters would need to be implemented.

Keywords: Agribusiness; Agricultural and Food Policy; Crop Production/Industries; Environmental Economics and Policy; Farm Management; Land Economics/Use; Livestock Production/Industries; Resource/Energy Economics and Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 34
Date: 2012-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-cwa and nep-env
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:ubzefd:126872

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.126872

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