The Oxford Handbook of Food, Water and Society

by Tony Allan (Editor), Brendan Bromwich (Editor), Martin Keulertz (Editor), Anthony Colman (Editor)

Overview

Food, water and society: what is managed by whom, and with what impacts? Our food supply chains are at risk. Water resources--sometimes scarce, often damaged, and always under-valued--are among the major reasons why food and water security rank high every year in the World Economic Forum's major global risk analysis. A stable and sustainable food system is critical to society's survival. This Handbook shows that keeping the food system stable comes at the expense of the environment, especially of water resources and those who consume and manage them. The way the food system operates reflects hard political realities. Rather than pay for the environmental costs of sustainable production, society expects food at ever lower prices. Governments reflect their electorates in this regard. Given that farm production may account for as little as 10% of the food value chain in wealthy economies, it is striking that governments have been unwilling (or unable) to put in place the essential laws and accountability that would enable famers to ensure both production and stewardship. Corporate food traders, food manufacturers, and retailers on the other hand operate in markets that make profits and pay taxes. But these corporations are not contractually bound to utilize highly nutritious, sustainably produced food commodities. The articles in this Oxford Handbook have been written by water and food system scientists and professionals, including farmers, rarely heard voices who understand the problems of food producers, food manufacturers, and regulating markets and public policy. The articles address the blind spots of society and its public policymakers, demonstrating the importance of informing society about the consequences of its food preferences and the heroic challenges it is beginning to face. The damage we are doing to our water and soil ecosystems is as important as the damage we do to the atmosphere. Impressed by the technical and organizational advances of the past two centuries, the contributors featured in this book also take note of where economic inefficiencies and cultural deadlock in a 4,000 year old system are putting our critical food supply chains at risk.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190669805
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/27/2019
Series:	Oxford Handbooks
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	640
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

Tony Allan, PhD is based at King's College London and SOAS London. He specializes in the analysis of water resources in semi-arid regions and on the role of global systems in ameliorating local and regional water deficits. He pointed out that water short economies achieve water and food security not on the basis of their own water endowments but by importing water intensive food commodities - a concept which he found he had to call "virtual water." For the past decade he has analyzed our very politicized food system, highlighting that how the "broken" food system operates determines how water is managed and mismanaged by farmers. Brendan Bromwich is an environmental engineer with experience of water problems in complex social and political contexts. He has worked in the private sector, NGOs and the UN in Europe, Asia, and Africa with a focus on water infrastructure and on institutional change. His PhD thesis examines institutional change and conflict over natural resources and is based on his experience coordinating UN Environment's work in Sudan. He holds degrees in Environmental Engineering from Imperial College and in Geography from King's College London. Martin Keulertz, PhD works as Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the American University of Beirut, where he chairs AUB's Food Security Program. He previously worked as a post-doctoral research fellow at Purdue University (USA) and Humboldt University Berlin (Germany). He obtained his PhD at King's College London (UK) in 2013, his MSc in Middle East Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) and a BA in Political and Social Sciences at the University of Wales, Bangor in 2007. Martin's research interests center around the water-food-energy nexus with a particular focus on the Arab world, North America, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, he has published on the global political economy of water and food. Anthony Colman, PhD is Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Cape Town, University of East Anglia and the Columbia Water Center. His current work is on the UNFCCC Koronivia agenda to reduce GHG emissions and ensure the adaptation of agriculture. He is completing a trilogy study of Cape Town, New York City, and London's planning for drinking water. He was the UK MP for Putney from 1997 to 2005. He is a member of the World Future Council. His work brings together the disciplines of academia, political realism, and the private sector.

Table of Contents

Contents List of Contributors Introduction 1. Food, Water and Society: An Analytical Framework Brendan Bromwich, Tony Allan, Anthony Colman, Martin Keulertz Part I: Key Concepts 2. Green Water Used By Plants And Managed By Farmers: Measurement, Accounting, Policy David Leslie Dent 3. Green Water and Food Security Garrison Sposito 4. Natural Capital Accounting for Water Resources Matthew Agarwala, Michael Brock 5. Will Irrigation Technology, Pricing, or Quotas Ensure Sustainable Water Use? Chris Perry 6. Global food Trade and Local Water Resources: Can We Bridge the Regulatory Gap? Arjen Hoekstra 7. Water Service Requirements for Agriculture: Nature, Nurture and Negotiation Carl Hausmann 8. Valuing Water in Supply Chains Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Christian A. Vousvouras, Samuel Vionnet 9. Valuing Water in Food Systems and Beyond Alexis J. Morgan, Stuart Orr, Nathanial Matthews 10. Subsidies and the Environment: Impacts of WTO Agricultural Support Disciplines Ulla Kask 11. Dietary Patterns that Value People and the Planet Joanne Burke 12. Incentive Programs to Address the Challenges of Hunger, Undernutrition, and Obesity in the United States Gus Schumacher, Emily Nink 13. Farmer-led Water User Associations in Agricultural Water Management Rami Zurayk, Azza Dirar 14. Gender, Poverty and Politics Along the Real-virtual Water Spectrum Floriane Clement, Alan Nicol 15. The Feminization of Agriculture: Evidence and Implications for Food and Water Security Vanya Slavchevska, Susan Kaaria, Sanna Liisa Taivalmaa 16. Societal Drivers of Food and Water Systems 1: Material Flows, Household Consumption Styles, and Contending Schools of Engineering Thought Michael Thompson, M. Bruce Beck, Dipak Gyawali 17. Societal Drivers of Food and Water Systems 2: Applying Plural Rationality to some Wicked Problems M. Bruce Beck, Dipak Gyawali, Michael Thompson Part II: Global Problemsheds 18. Water and Food in the American West: Lessons from Recent Droughts in California Josué Medellín-Azuara, Jay Lund, Daniel A. Sumner 19. Food and Water Security in North America's Transboundary Sonoran Desert: a Water Exporting Dryland America Lutz Ley, Ryan Lee, Yulia Peralta, Christopher Scott 20. Water Issues and the Brazilian Agricultural Agenda Vanessa Lucena Empinotti 21. Water in Australian Agriculture James Horne 22. Circumventing Water Scarcity in the Jordan Basin: Decoupling Trends in Israel and Jordan Michael Gilmont, Lara Nassar, Erica Harper, Nadav Tal, Steve Rayner 23. Food and Water Management in Northwest Africa Mustapha Besbes, Jamel Chahed, Abdelkader Hamdane 24. Food and Water Management in the Mediterranean Basin Michel Petit, Phillipe Le Grusse 25. Food and Water Security in West Africa Tim Williams 26. Food and Water Management in Southern Africa Peter Johnston, Arthur Chapman 27. Food and Water Security in West Asia Eckart Woertz 28. Understanding Pesticides in England and Wales: Pathways, Policies, and Pollution Prevention Frances C. Elwell, Nikolaus J. Clemenz, Nicola J. Nineham 29. Cape Town's Contested Hierarchy of Demand for Agricultural and Municipal Water in a Rainfed Economy 2017-18 Anthony Colman Part III: Key Supply Chains 30. Global Wheat Value Chains Ghada Ahmed 31. Water for Coffee John Schluter 32. Water and Rice Production: Looking to the Future Phil Riddell, Biksham Gujja 33. Oil Palm Value Chain Management Denis Murphy 34. Successes and Problems with Measuring Water Consumption in Beef Systems Mieghan Bruce, Camille Bellet, Jonathan Rushton Part IV: Responding to the Challenge 35. The Potential Impact of Improved Water Management to Alleviate Water Scarcity and Hunger: A Global Perspective Dieter Gerten, Jonas Jägermeyr 36. The Global Uptake of Conservation Agriculture and the Impact on Water-related Ecosystem Services Amir Kassam, David Coates 37. A Farmer's Experience of Conservation Agriculture in the UK Anthony J. Reynolds 38. The Variable Rate Irrigation Management Challenge James Lowenberg-DeBoer 39. The Water Infrastructure Crisis Phil Riddell 40. Integrating Multi-Capital Thinking into Business Decisions Jyoti Banerjee 41. Modelling Agricultural Controls for Flooding and Soil Erosion Roger Moussa, Bruno Cheviron 42. Water Management by Farmers Laurence Smith 43. The Role of New and Green Water Resources in Localizing Water and Food Security Under Arid and Semi-Arid Conditions Rabi Mohtar, Amjad Assi 44. Disruptive Food Supply Chains: Bringing it all Back Home Tony Beck 45. Lab-grown Meat: Can It Change the World? Martin Keulertz Conclusions 46. Food, Water and the Consequences of Society not Valuing the Environment Tony Allan Index