Green and blue water accounting in the Limpopo and Nile basins: Implications for food and agricultural policy

Timothy Sulser, Claudia Ringler, Tingju Zhu (), Siwa Msangi (), Elizabeth Bryan and Mark Rosegrant ()

No 907, IFPRI discussion papers from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Abstract: Globally, most food is produced using soil moisture that comes from precipitation (i.e., “green” water). Moreover, most of the water that reaches plants in irrigated systems also stems from precipitation. Despite this, irrigation (or “blue”) water has typically been the focus for policy analysis, largely because it is possible for humans to manipulate blue water. This paper analyzes alternative water futures using a combined green and blue water accounting framework embedded within the water simulation components of IFPRI’s International Model for Policy Analysis of Agricultural Commodities and Trade (IMPACT). Future scenarios recently developed for the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) and other studies are assessed with respect to this adjusted green/blue water accounting framework. The results reveal that accounting explicitly for green water resources broadens the scope of options for decision-makers who are seeking to improve agricultural production in the face of rising food and energy prices, a degrading water and land resource base, and increasing demands. This analysis highlight the importance of green/blue water accounting and presents a wider range of agricultural science and technology policy options for increasing global crop productivity across a span of potential futures.

Date: 2009
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-env
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/21521

Related works:
Working Paper: Green and blue water accounting in the Limpopo and Nile basins: implications for food and agricultural policy (2009)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fpr:ifprid:907

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IFPRI discussion papers from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().