Competition for water induced by transnational land acquisitions for agriculture

Davide Danilo Chiarelli (), Paolo D’Odorico, Marc F. Müller, Nathaniel D. Mueller, Kyle Frankel Davis, Jampel Dell’Angelo, Gopal Penny and Maria Cristina Rulli
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Davide Danilo Chiarelli: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano
Paolo D’Odorico: University of California
Marc F. Müller: University of Notre Dame
Nathaniel D. Mueller: Colorado State University
Kyle Frankel Davis: University of Delaware
Jampel Dell’Angelo: Vrije Univeristeit Amsterdam
Gopal Penny: University of Notre Dame
Maria Cristina Rulli: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract The ongoing agrarian transition from smallholder farming to large-scale commercial agriculture promoted by transnational large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) often aims to increase crop yields through the expansion of irrigation. LSLAs are playing an increasingly prominent role in this transition. Yet it remains unknown whether foreign LSLAs by agribusinesses target areas based on specific hydrological conditions and whether these investments compete with the water needs of existing local users. Here we combine process-based crop and hydrological modelling, agricultural statistics, and georeferenced information on individual transnational LSLAs to evaluate emergence of water scarcity associated with LSLAs. While conditions of blue water scarcity already existed prior to land acquisitions, these deals substantially exacerbate blue water scarcity through both the adoption of water-intensive crops and the expansion of irrigated cultivation. These effects lead to new rival water uses in 105 of the 160 studied LSLAs (67% of the acquired land). Combined with our findings that investors target land with preferential access to surface and groundwater resources to support irrigation, this suggests that LSLAs often appropriate water resources to the detriment of local users.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28077-2

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