The sustainability and resilience of global water and food systems: Political analysis of the interplay between security, resource scarcity, political systems and global trade

Allouche, Jérémy

doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2010.11.013

Cited by 132 publications

(78 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The critical issue is not whether food is available but whether it can be accessed through exchange, monetary or otherwise, in an adequate quantity by the population (Allouche, 2011). A population's access to food will also be denied either through programs and policies of self-sufficiency where not enough food is produced domestically, for example, the People's Republic of China during the cultural revolution (Dikotter, 2010), or through policies of self-reliance where food imports are restricted, for example, Cuba when trading with the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s (Aponte-Garcia, 2009; Thornburg, 2013).…”

Section: Inequality Of Food Access Needs To Be Addressed Firstmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Food Sovereignty: The Case and the Space for Community Led Agricultural Autonomy within the Global Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition

Burdock¹,

Ampt²

2017

JAS

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Much has been written about food security, nutrition security and the ability of people to access their food needs. Food sovereignty and the associated ability of people to participate in the production, distribution and consumption decisions of their food have been at the fringe of this discussion. Linked with this is the debate on the question of pursuing policies of food self-sufficiency or policies of self-reliance where food imports are considered a natural extension of food security. Examining the elements of food security through the food system participation framework of food sovereignty is an opportunity worthy of further exploration. This paper seeks to add a dimension to the understanding of food security by considering the value that a food sovereignty perspective has on the right to access food that is nutritious and safe for consumption. Current themes are cited and reviewed, and the implications of both food security and food sovereignty perspectives for the food system are argued. Agricultural trade liberalisation has benefited some societies and harmed others. To this end, the Global Strategic Framework (the Framework) on Food Security and Nutrition has recently incorporated the philosophy of the food sovereignty movement into its guidelines. The Framework provides an opportunity to view food security through a lens of food sovereignty providing guidance for all societies on how to safeguard their food security.

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Section: Inequality Of Food Access Needs To Be Addressed Firstmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Instead, conflict is more likely to be local in nature as a result of the politics of domestic resource allocation and distribution. If food and water security is understood to be a political problem, then a political solution will be required to resolve it (Allan, 2004;Allouche, 2011).…”

Section: Food Security and International Conflictmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food Sovereignty: The Case and the Space for Community Led Agricultural Autonomy within the Global Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition

Burdock¹,

Ampt²

2017

JAS

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“…As pointed out in the IPCC report, climate change might intensify competition regarding different water usage purposes. Allouche (2011) investigated the resilience and sustainability of water and food systems and concluded that both water and food security will face major challenges from climate change.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing water resources vulnerability and resilience of southern Taiwan to climate change

Tseng

Tung

et al. 2017

Terr. Atmos. Ocean. Sci.

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Water resources management has become more challenging in Taiwan due to rapid socio-economic development and the complications of climate change. This study developed a systematic procedure for assessing water resources vulnerability and resilience with an integrated tool, TaiWAP, including climate change scenarios, a weather generator, a hydrological model, and system dynamic models. Five assessment indicators, including two for vulnerability, two for resilience, and one for availability were used to quantify changes in water resources and improvements after implementing adaption measures. Each indicator was presented with 3 grades, namely low, medium, and high. Water resources vulnerability and resilience for Tainan City in southern Taiwan were evaluated. Insufficient water supply facilities capacity is the major weakness causing low resilience. Water resources allocation flexibility is limited by substantial agricultural water demands. A total of 9 adaption measures and combinations of measures were assessed. Desalination plant implementation can steadily supply public water to lessen system failure duration. Although agricultural water conservation and fallow land can greatly reduce water demand, fallow compensation is a potential cost. When food security is considered, reducing irrigation leakage will be a better adaption measure to both water and agriculture stakeholders. Both agriculture water conservation and cropping systems adjustment have crossspatial flexibilities. The combination of desalination, reservoirs and public water conservation provide the most beneficial effects in reducing climate change impact.

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“…Furthermore, Allouche (2011) points out that, when water and land resources are scarce, food imports represent the main channel though which countries fulfill their food needs, so that global trade enhances food and water security. For instance, Tanaka and Hosoe (2011) find that protection of the domestic rice market harms, rather than ensures, Japan's national food security.…”

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confidence: 99%

Connected we stand: A network perspective on trade and global food security

Sartori

Schiavo

2015

Food Policy

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We analyze the link between virtual water trade, that is, the flow of water embodied in the international trade of agricultural goods, and vulnerability to external shocks from the vantage point of network analysis. While a large body of work has shown that virtual water trade can enhance water saving on a global scale, being especially beneficial to arid countries, there are increasing concerns that openness makes countries more dependent on foreign food suppliers and, in this way, more prone to external shocks. Our evidence reveals that the increased globalization witnessed in the last three decades is not associated with the increased frequency of adverse shocks (in food production). Furthermore, building on recent advances in network analysis that connect the stability of a complex system to its topological features, we find that the world is more interconnected, but not necessarily less stable.Keywords: virtual water; international trade; vulnerability; complex networks; agricultural production shocks JEL codes: F14, F18, Q25, Q56 Acknowledgements Financial support received through the project "The global virtual-water network: social, economic, and environmental implications" (FIRB -RBFR12BA3Y) funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) is gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank Francesco Laio and Stefania Tamea for providing the data on virtual water trade, Andrea Fracasso for insightful comments on an earlier draft of the paper, two anonymous referees and the Journal Editor for their suggestions and valuable inputs. 2 IntroductionThis paper investigates whether the globalization of food trade has made the world more vulnerable to shocks and, as a result, whether there is a trade-off between stability and openness. To do so we exploit the insights provided by network analysis: we study the structural features of the web of bilateral trade flows in agricultural goods -and the associated flows of virtual water-to ascertain whether they have evolved in a way that makes the world system more (or less) prone to large disruptions. In our endeavor, we relate to several streams of the existing literature, and interweave them to provide novel and original insights on the relationship between international trade and food security. The idea of measuring the water 'embodied' in goods, and 'virtually' traded from one country to another when goods are sold across borders, has been introduced by Allan (1993). In his seminal study, Allan describes virtual water (VW) trade as a market-mediated mechanism that enables water-scarce regions to cope with water scarcity (and food security) over the past few decades. (2012), the temporal evolution of the virtual water network is also analyzed, showing the progressive intensification of VW exchanges and the geography of these variations. We contribute to this literature by linking the topological features of the global network of VW trade to the resilience of the world system to shocks. In fact, the relationship between network topolog...

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The sustainability and resilience of global water and food systems: Political analysis of the interplay between security, resource scarcity, political systems and global trade

Cited by 132 publications

References 29 publications

Food Sovereignty: The Case and the Space for Community Led Agricultural Autonomy within the Global Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition

Food Sovereignty: The Case and the Space for Community Led Agricultural Autonomy within the Global Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition

Assessing water resources vulnerability and resilience of southern Taiwan to climate change

Connected we stand: A network perspective on trade and global food security

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