Virtual Water and Food Security in Tunisian Semi-Arid Region

Lamia Lajili-Ghezal; Talel Stambouli; Marwa Weslati; Asma Souissi

doi:doi:10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12

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Virtual Water and Food Security in Tunisian Semi-Arid Region

Lamia Lajili-Ghezal, Talel Stambouli, Marwa Weslati, Asma Souissi

Published in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Volume 3, Issue 5)

Received: 17 August 2014 Accepted: 15 September 2014 Published: 30 September 2014

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Abstract

To confront water scarcity and support food security, the concept of virtual water is used. As defined by Allan (1997) virtual water is “the water embedded in key water-intensive commodities such as wheat” or “the water required for the production of commodities”. The importance of this concept is related to its potential contribution for saving water, especially in water short regions like Tunisia. This research study tries to evaluate the strategic importance of polluted or gray water, which is a component of virtual water. Reduction of virtual water for strategic agricultural products can be obtained by the gray water reduction. The latter is defined as “water required diluting polluted water to reach the normalized quality, different with countries”. Water pollution is especially related to use of chemical products (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) for some crops like vegetables. Besides having a lower opportunity cost, the use of green water for crop production has generally less negative environmental externalities than the use of blue water (irrigation with water abstracted from ground or surface water systems). Tunisia exports some crops and gray water volumes in exports have rarely been estimated. Thus, estimation of gray water plays a role in ensuring water and water-dependent food security and avoiding further potential damage to the water environments in both importing and exporting countries. In this context, Tunisian semi-arid region is chosen because the presence of a long period of dry and shiny, occurring after a cold and rainy one, useful for vegetables crops and family food security. The aim of this study is to present: Methodologies which can be used to reduce virtual water for some strategic vegetables crops in Tunisian semi-arid region, based on irrigation techniques improvements and the control of runoff and leaching water; Resources management practices that can be used to improve family income, especially women and children and target food security.

Published in	Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Volume 3, Issue 5)
DOI	10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12
Page(s)	341-345
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Virtual Water, Food Security, Water Quality Conservation, Family Income, Gender

References

[1]	"Allan, J.A., 1997. “Virtual water”: A Long Term Solution for Water Short Middle Eastern Economies? : Occasional paper, no. 3. Water Issues Study Group, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
[2]	Allen, R.G., Pereira, L.S., Raes, D., Smith, M., 1998. Crop evapotranspiration: guidelines for computing crop water requirements, FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56. United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome.
[3]	Cuenca, R.H., 1989. Irrigation System Design: An Engineering Approach. Prentice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA, 552 pp.
[4]	FAO, 2009. CROPWAT 8.0 model, Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy. [online] www.fao.org/nr/water/infores_databases_cropwat.html. [Accessed on March 2012].
[5]	Hoekstra, A.Y., Chapagain, A.K., Aldaya, M.M. and Mekonnen, M.M., 2009. Water footprint manual: State of the art 2009, Water Footprint Network, Enschede, the Netherlands.
[6]	Loiseau, E. 2010. Environmental impacts evaluations methods of water use. Bibliotheque synthesis. AgroParisTech–ENGREF centre de Montpellier. 18p
[7]	ONAGRI, 2010: http://www.onagri.tn/STATISTIQUES/ENQUTES%20STRUCTURES/ESEA%202004-2005.htm#_Toc125361774. [Accessed on May 2012].
[8]	Point Focal Tunisien du SEMIDE, (2002). http://www.semide.tn/english/contressource.htm Accessed on 20/07/2013
[9]	Smith, M., 1993. CLIMWAT for CROPWAT, a climatic database for irrigation planning and management. FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 49, Rome, 113 pp.
[10]	Velázquez, E., (2007).Water trade in Andalusia. Virtual water: An alternative way to manage water use. Ecological economics Vol. (63), (201-208). "

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APA Style

Lamia Lajili-Ghezal, Talel Stambouli, Marwa Weslati, Asma Souissi. (2014). Virtual Water and Food Security in Tunisian Semi-Arid Region. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 3(5), 341-345. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12

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ACS Style

Lamia Lajili-Ghezal; Talel Stambouli; Marwa Weslati; Asma Souissi. Virtual Water and Food Security in Tunisian Semi-Arid Region. Agric. For. Fish. 2014, 3(5), 341-345. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12

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AMA Style

Lamia Lajili-Ghezal, Talel Stambouli, Marwa Weslati, Asma Souissi. Virtual Water and Food Security in Tunisian Semi-Arid Region. Agric For Fish. 2014;3(5):341-345. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12

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@article{10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12,
  author = {Lamia Lajili-Ghezal and Talel Stambouli and Marwa Weslati and Asma Souissi},
  title = {Virtual Water and Food Security in Tunisian Semi-Arid Region},
  journal = {Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries},
  volume = {3},
  number = {5},
  pages = {341-345},
  doi = {10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.aff.20140305.12},
  abstract = {To confront water scarcity and support food security, the concept of virtual water is used. As defined by Allan (1997) virtual water is “the water embedded in key water-intensive commodities such as wheat” or “the water required for the production of commodities”. The importance of this concept is related to its potential contribution for saving water, especially in water short regions like Tunisia. This research study tries to evaluate the strategic importance of polluted or gray water, which is a component of virtual water. Reduction of virtual water for strategic agricultural products can be obtained by the gray water reduction. The latter is defined as “water required diluting polluted water to reach the normalized quality, different with countries”. Water pollution is especially related to use of chemical products (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) for some crops like vegetables. Besides having a lower opportunity cost, the use of green water for crop production has generally less negative environmental externalities than the use of blue water (irrigation with water abstracted from ground or surface water systems). Tunisia exports some crops and gray water volumes in exports have rarely been estimated. Thus, estimation of gray water plays a role in ensuring water and water-dependent food security and avoiding further potential damage to the water environments in both importing and exporting countries. In this context, Tunisian semi-arid region is chosen because the presence of a long period of dry and shiny, occurring after a cold and rainy one, useful for vegetables crops and family food security. The aim of this study is to present: Methodologies which can be used to reduce virtual water for some strategic vegetables crops in Tunisian semi-arid region, based on irrigation techniques improvements and the control of runoff and leaching water; Resources management practices that can be used to improve family income, especially women and children and target food security.},
 year = {2014}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Virtual Water and Food Security in Tunisian Semi-Arid Region
AU  - Lamia Lajili-Ghezal
AU  - Talel Stambouli
AU  - Marwa Weslati
AU  - Asma Souissi
Y1  - 2014/09/30
PY  - 2014
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12
T2  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
JF  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
JO  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
SP  - 341
EP  - 345
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-5648
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12
AB  - To confront water scarcity and support food security, the concept of virtual water is used. As defined by Allan (1997) virtual water is “the water embedded in key water-intensive commodities such as wheat” or “the water required for the production of commodities”. The importance of this concept is related to its potential contribution for saving water, especially in water short regions like Tunisia. This research study tries to evaluate the strategic importance of polluted or gray water, which is a component of virtual water. Reduction of virtual water for strategic agricultural products can be obtained by the gray water reduction. The latter is defined as “water required diluting polluted water to reach the normalized quality, different with countries”. Water pollution is especially related to use of chemical products (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) for some crops like vegetables. Besides having a lower opportunity cost, the use of green water for crop production has generally less negative environmental externalities than the use of blue water (irrigation with water abstracted from ground or surface water systems). Tunisia exports some crops and gray water volumes in exports have rarely been estimated. Thus, estimation of gray water plays a role in ensuring water and water-dependent food security and avoiding further potential damage to the water environments in both importing and exporting countries. In this context, Tunisian semi-arid region is chosen because the presence of a long period of dry and shiny, occurring after a cold and rainy one, useful for vegetables crops and family food security. The aim of this study is to present: Methodologies which can be used to reduce virtual water for some strategic vegetables crops in Tunisian semi-arid region, based on irrigation techniques improvements and the control of runoff and leaching water; Resources management practices that can be used to improve family income, especially women and children and target food security.
VL  - 3
IS  - 5
ER  -

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Author Information

Lamia Lajili-Ghezal

ESA Mograne, 1121 Mograne, Tunisia
Talel Stambouli

ESA Mograne, 1121 Mograne, Tunisia
Marwa Weslati

ESA Mograne, 1121 Mograne, Tunisia
Asma Souissi

ESA Mograne, 1121 Mograne, Tunisia

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APA Style

Lamia Lajili-Ghezal, Talel Stambouli, Marwa Weslati, Asma Souissi. (2014). Virtual Water and Food Security in Tunisian Semi-Arid Region. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 3(5), 341-345. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12

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ACS Style

Lamia Lajili-Ghezal; Talel Stambouli; Marwa Weslati; Asma Souissi. Virtual Water and Food Security in Tunisian Semi-Arid Region. Agric. For. Fish. 2014, 3(5), 341-345. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12

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AMA Style

Lamia Lajili-Ghezal, Talel Stambouli, Marwa Weslati, Asma Souissi. Virtual Water and Food Security in Tunisian Semi-Arid Region. Agric For Fish. 2014;3(5):341-345. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12

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@article{10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12,
  author = {Lamia Lajili-Ghezal and Talel Stambouli and Marwa Weslati and Asma Souissi},
  title = {Virtual Water and Food Security in Tunisian Semi-Arid Region},
  journal = {Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries},
  volume = {3},
  number = {5},
  pages = {341-345},
  doi = {10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.aff.20140305.12},
  abstract = {To confront water scarcity and support food security, the concept of virtual water is used. As defined by Allan (1997) virtual water is “the water embedded in key water-intensive commodities such as wheat” or “the water required for the production of commodities”. The importance of this concept is related to its potential contribution for saving water, especially in water short regions like Tunisia. This research study tries to evaluate the strategic importance of polluted or gray water, which is a component of virtual water. Reduction of virtual water for strategic agricultural products can be obtained by the gray water reduction. The latter is defined as “water required diluting polluted water to reach the normalized quality, different with countries”. Water pollution is especially related to use of chemical products (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) for some crops like vegetables. Besides having a lower opportunity cost, the use of green water for crop production has generally less negative environmental externalities than the use of blue water (irrigation with water abstracted from ground or surface water systems). Tunisia exports some crops and gray water volumes in exports have rarely been estimated. Thus, estimation of gray water plays a role in ensuring water and water-dependent food security and avoiding further potential damage to the water environments in both importing and exporting countries. In this context, Tunisian semi-arid region is chosen because the presence of a long period of dry and shiny, occurring after a cold and rainy one, useful for vegetables crops and family food security. The aim of this study is to present: Methodologies which can be used to reduce virtual water for some strategic vegetables crops in Tunisian semi-arid region, based on irrigation techniques improvements and the control of runoff and leaching water; Resources management practices that can be used to improve family income, especially women and children and target food security.},
 year = {2014}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Virtual Water and Food Security in Tunisian Semi-Arid Region
AU  - Lamia Lajili-Ghezal
AU  - Talel Stambouli
AU  - Marwa Weslati
AU  - Asma Souissi
Y1  - 2014/09/30
PY  - 2014
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12
T2  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
JF  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
JO  - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
SP  - 341
EP  - 345
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-5648
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20140305.12
AB  - To confront water scarcity and support food security, the concept of virtual water is used. As defined by Allan (1997) virtual water is “the water embedded in key water-intensive commodities such as wheat” or “the water required for the production of commodities”. The importance of this concept is related to its potential contribution for saving water, especially in water short regions like Tunisia. This research study tries to evaluate the strategic importance of polluted or gray water, which is a component of virtual water. Reduction of virtual water for strategic agricultural products can be obtained by the gray water reduction. The latter is defined as “water required diluting polluted water to reach the normalized quality, different with countries”. Water pollution is especially related to use of chemical products (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) for some crops like vegetables. Besides having a lower opportunity cost, the use of green water for crop production has generally less negative environmental externalities than the use of blue water (irrigation with water abstracted from ground or surface water systems). Tunisia exports some crops and gray water volumes in exports have rarely been estimated. Thus, estimation of gray water plays a role in ensuring water and water-dependent food security and avoiding further potential damage to the water environments in both importing and exporting countries. In this context, Tunisian semi-arid region is chosen because the presence of a long period of dry and shiny, occurring after a cold and rainy one, useful for vegetables crops and family food security. The aim of this study is to present: Methodologies which can be used to reduce virtual water for some strategic vegetables crops in Tunisian semi-arid region, based on irrigation techniques improvements and the control of runoff and leaching water; Resources management practices that can be used to improve family income, especially women and children and target food security.
VL  - 3
IS  - 5
ER  -

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