Decomposition of Water Footprint of Food Consumption in Typical East Chinese Cities

Ruogu Huang, Xiangyang Li, Yang Liu, Yaohao Tang and Jianyi Lin
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Ruogu Huang: Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Fujian Key Laboratory of Watershed Ecology, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, China
Xiangyang Li: Pearl River Water Resource Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources, 80 Tianshou Road, Guangzhou 510611, China
Yang Liu: Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Fujian Key Laboratory of Watershed Ecology, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, China
Yaohao Tang: School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Hohai University, 1 Xikang Road, Nanjing 210098, China
Jianyi Lin: Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Fujian Key Laboratory of Watershed Ecology, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Water scarcity has put pressure on city development in China. With a particular focus on urban and rural effects, logarithmic mean Divisia index decomposition (LMDI) was used to analyze the water footprint per capita (WFP) of food consumption in five East China cities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Qingdao, and Xiamen) from 2008 to 2018. Results show that the WFP of food consumption exhibited an upward tendency among all cities during the research period. Food consumption structure contributed the most to the WFP growth, mainly due to urban and rural residents’ diet shift toward a livestock-rich style. Except in Beijing, the food consumption level mainly inhibited the WFP growth due to the decrease in food consumption level per capita in urban areas. Urbanization had less influence on WFP growth for two megacities (Beijing and Shanghai) due to the strictly controlled urban population inflow policy and more positive effects for other cities. The water footprint intensity effect among cities was mainly due to uneven water-saving efficiency. Meanwhile, Beijing and Tianjin have achieved advancement in water utilization efficiency.

Keywords: water footprint per capita; food consumption; east China cities; LMDI (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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