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chapter 1
Figure B5
Food Security and Agricultural Sustainability
Blue water footprint of national consumption (m3/capita/year) in selected Arab countries, 1996-2005
Comoros Palestine Algeria World Average Mouritania Sudan Morocco Yemen Jordan Tunisia Kuwait Lebanon Syria Saudi Arabia Libya Egypt UAE Source: Mekonnen and Hoekstra, 2011
(m3/Capita/Year)
It is argued that in order to meet the water demands for production and consumption while conserving domestic water resources, water stressed countries should import virtual water in the form of water-intensive commodities while exporting virtual water embedded in less waterintensive commodities. Global studies show that North and South America, Australia, and most of Asia and central Africa are net exporters of virtual water, while Europe, the Middle East, and North and Southern Africa are the largest importers. Figure B7 shows the net virtual water trade flow (WF of imports minus exports) map of the Arab world. Over the period 1996-2005, net virtual water imports exceeded 110 Gm3/yr (Europe is 152 Gm3/ yr), while net virtual water exports exceeded 24 Gm3/yr. Virtual water imports and exports are dominated by crop products, with a few exceptions. The largest net importers (blue circles) are Yemen (21.7 Gm3/yr), Saudi Arabia
(17.6 Gm3/yr), Algeria (17.3 3/yr), Libya (9.5 Gm3/yr), Egypt (9.0 Gm3/yr), and Morocco (8.3 Gm3/yr), while the largest net exporters (red circles) are Somalia (8.2 Gm3/ yr, mostly green water), Djiboti (7.2 Gm3/yr, mostly green water), Sudan (3.4 Gm3/yr, blue and green water), Syria (2.2 Gm3/yr, blue and green Water), Tunisia (1.6 Gm3/ yr, green water), and Iraq (1.5 Gm3/yr, significant gray water). Egypt and Morocco are also net exporters of blue water. This calls into question the justification for water stressed countries (e.g., Egypt, Morocco, and Syria) to become net exporters of blue virtual water. Implications on the Sustainability Freshwater Resources in Arab Countries
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It should be pointed out that a lower water footprint is not necessarily the most sustainable. For example,