Virtual water has been proposed as a mechanism with potential to reduce the effects of water scarcity on food security. To evaluate the role of virtual water in reducing the effect of water scarcity on food security, all components of the available water resource in agricultural areas must be quantified to provide a basis for evaluating food imports driven by water scarcity. We refer to this situation as ‘agri-compatible connections’ among water scarcity, virtual water, and food security. To date, this has not been captured in the literature on water scarcity, virtual water flows and food security. The lack of agri-compatibility has rendered the virtual water concept seemingly inconsistent with trade theories and water-food security policy needs. We propose two requirements for achieving agri-compatible connections: (i) the limit of crop production imposed by water scarcity should be captured by quantifying all components of the water available to satisfy specific crop water requirement in the importing economy, and (ii) food import should satisfy ‘water-dependent food security’ need, which is the actual or potential food security gap created by insufficient available water from all sources for crop production (all other things being equal). Further, we propose that agri-compatible water scarcity should capture three key elements: (i) a reflection of aridity or drought potential, (ii) quantification of all the components of water resource available to a given crop at a given locality and time, and (iii) use of crop- and catchment-specific water scarcity factors to evaluate the effect of crop production and virtual water on water scarcity. In this paper, we show the conceptual outlines for the proposed agri-compatible connections. Achieving agri-compatible connections among water scarcity, virtual water and food security will enhance the analysis and understanding of the role of virtual water for food security in the importing economy and water scarcity in the exporting economy. We suggest that achieving agri-compatibility will improve the use of virtual water as a mechanism to reduce existing and future pressures on global food security

The role of water security in sustainable development and in the nexus of water, food, energy and climate interactions is examined from the starting point of the definition of water security offered by Grey and Sadoff. Much about the notion of security has to do with the presumption of scarcity in the resources required to meet human needs. The treatment of scarcity in mainstream economics is in turn examined, therefore, in relation to how each of us as individuals reconciles means with ends, a procedure at the core of the idea of sustainable development. According to the Grey-Sadoff definition, attaining water security amounts to achieving basic, single-sector water development as a precursor of more general, self-sustaining, multi-sectoral development. This is consistent with the way in which water is treated as “first among equals”, i.e. privileged, in thinking about what is key in achieving security around the nexus of water, food, energy and climate. Cities, of course, are locations where demands for these multiple resource-energy flows are increasingly being generated. The paper discusses two important facets of security, i.e., diversity of access to resources and services (such as sanitation) and resilience in the behavior of coupled human-built-natural systems. Eight quasi-operational principles, by which to gauge nexus security with respect to city buildings and infrastructure, are developed.

As part of a survey conducted by the Central Agricultural Office of Hungary, 67 food samples including beverages were taken from 57 food industrial and catering companies, 75% of them being small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Moreover, 40% of the SMEs were micro entities. Water used for food processing was simultaneously sampled. The arsenic (As) content of solid food stuff was determined by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry after dry ashing. Food stuff with high water content and water samples were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The As concentration exceeded 10μg/L in 74% of the water samples taken from SMEs. The As concentrations of samples with high water content and water used were linearly correlated. Estimated As intake from combined exposure to drinking water and food of the population was on average 40% of the daily lower limit of WHO on the benchmark dose for a 0.5% increased incidence of lung cancer (BMDL0.5) for As. Five settlements had higher As intake than the BMDL0.5. Three of these settlements are situated in Csongrád county and the distance between them is less than 55km. The maximum As intake might be 3.8μg/kg body weight.

This book is the 10th volume in the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture Series. The book is structured to systematically show the relationships between ecosystems, water and food security, and to elaborate an ecosystem approach to sustainable agriculture. It contains chapters on the drivers of food security (Chapter 2) and provides analyses on ecosystems, agroecosystems, ecosystem services and their valuation (Chapters 3 and 4). Next, there is an analysis of the role of water in agriculture as well as analyses of water use and scarcity (Chapter 5). This is followed by discussions of the specific challenges in drylands (Chapter 6) and wetlands (Chapter 7); each of these chapters provides more insight into the reasons why an integrated ecosystem approach is required and what this should entail, giving practical recommendations for those vulnerable ecosystems. A discussion of the contributions that can be made by increased water productivity to a better joint management of agroecosystems and water follows in the next chapter (Chapter 8). Subsequently, Chapter 9 presents various approaches to the enhancement of ecosystem services in agriculture, with many concrete examples, while Chapter 10 provides more detail of the ecosystem approach to water management. Finally, the last chapter (Chapter 11) ends the book with a synthesis that embeds the key recommendations into a landscape approach, links this to ongoing initiatives and identifies knowledge gaps for further research.