The Water Situation in the Egyptian Agricultural Sector by Applying the Principle of Virtual Water and Water Footprint: A Case Study of Rice Crop

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Economic Studies, Desert Research Center, Egypt

2 Agricultural Economics Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Egypt

Abstract

The research aimed to analyze the water situation in the Egyptian agricultural sector by applying the principle of virtual water for agricultural exports and imports and the water footprint, with a focus on the rice crop, in light of the growing severity of the problem of the deficit in Egyptian water resources. The most important results were the following: The total net virtual water balance in favor of Egypt amounted to about 76.3 billion m3, and the internal water footprint of the rice crop ranged between two limits, a minimum of about 5.54 billion m3 in 2010, and a maximum of about 10.5 billion m3 in 2008, and the average amount of incoming water compared to the quantities that were imported during the period The study amounts to about 7.8 billion m3. The external water footprint also ranged between two limits, a minimum of about -2.48 billion m3 in 2007, and a maximum of about 1.78 billion m3 in 2019, and an average external water footprint of about -361 million m3. The total water footprint of the Egyptian rice crop ranges between two limits, a minimum of about 4.3 billion cubic meters in 2010, and a maximum of about 10.8 billion cubic meters in 2019, and an average of about 7.44 billion cubic meters.

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