Workshop 7 (synthesis): trade-offs in water for food and environmental security – urban/agricultural trade-off

Severe stresses are being generated by increasing demand for competing water uses, above all between agriculture and urban needs. Amongst potential solutions considered, two dominated the workshop: virtual water and water reuse. Virtual water implies indirect water use: water-poor countries importing food rather than attempting self-sufficiency and thereby keeping their real water resources for economically more beneficial uses. There are serious political and economic risks associated; one proposed solution is an international virtual water trading council. Improved forms of water reuse, particularly use of treated urban wastewater for irrigation, can maximise the use made of limited supply.