Optimising the water we eat - rethinking policy to enhance productive and sustainable use of water in agri-food systems across scales

Stefan Uhlenbrook, W. Yu, Petra Schmitter and Douglas Mark Smith

Papers published in Journals (Open Access), 2022, 6(1):E59-E65.

Abstract: Sustainable and resilient food systems depend on sustainable and resilient water management. Resilience is characterised by overlapping decision spaces and scales and interdependencies among water users and competing sectors. Increasing water scarcity, due to climate change and other environmental and societal changes, makes putting caps on the consumption of water resources indispensable. Implementation requires an understanding of different domains, actors, and their objectives, and drivers and barriers to transformational change. We suggest a scale-specific approach, in which agricultural water use is embedded in a larger systems approach (including natural and human systems). This approach is the basis for policy coherence and the design of effective incentive schemes to change agricultural water use behaviour and, therefore, optimise the water we eat.

Keywords: Agricultural water use; Sustainable use; Water use efficiency; Agrifood systems; Policies; Agricultural production; Food production; Food security; Water resources; Water scarcity; Water productivity; Water management; Groundwater; Water users; Climate change; Resilience; Sustainable Development Goals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iwt:jounls:h050852

DOI: 10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00264-3

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