Social, economic and livelihood dimensions of wastewater use in agriculture.
2008
Wolff, H. P.
The use of wastewater in agricultural production is a common practice of increasing relevance in both developing and industrialized countries. Results from research in a multitude of locations indicate that effects on economic and social parameters exceed the direct impacts of an additional resource for production and hazards from pollution. The characteristics of wastewater as an element in natural and man-made systems may have implications along the chain from the decision to allocate wastewater to the agricultural sector up to the level of markets for agricultural products. The actual occurrence of such implications depends on the interaction of a number of factors, which go considerably beyond the type and level of water contaminants. Conditions of farming systems as well as the knowledge, perception and attitude of involved stakeholders and decision-makers are at least as important as the physical and biophysical effects. Social and economic consequences pertain to larger parts of societies, even if impacts on the livelihoods of farmers and their families are the most complex ones. Nearby communities, consumers, owners of land and water resources, as well as bodies that are in charge of handling accruing wastewater and beneficiaries of intangibles from nature are among those who may need consideration in the evaluation of advantages and disadvantages.
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