Water footprint of wheat in Iraq

Abstract

The water footprint (WF) is an indicator of indirect and direct fresh water use. In respect of facilitating decision-making processes,WF gives an excellent perspective on how and where fresh water is used in the supply chain. More than 39million people live in Iraq and,with a growing population, there is a water shortage and a rising demand for food that cannot be met in the future. In this study, theWF of wheat production is estimated for the year 2016-2017 for 15 Iraqi provinces. TheWF was calculated using the method ofMekonnen and Hoekstra (2011) and the CROPWAT and CLIMWAT softwares' crop water requirement option. It was found that theWF in m3/ton was 1876 m3/ton. The 15 provinces showed variations inWFs, which can be ascribed to the difference in climate and production values. The highest wheat WF was found in Nineveh province, followed by Muthanna, Anbar, and Basra. The last three provinces produce little and have a highWF so, in these provinces, wheat can be replaced with crops that need less water and provide more economic benefit. There is an opportunity to reduce the greenWF by increasing production from the 4 rain-fed provinces, which will reduce the need for production from the irrigated provinces and, therefore, reduce the use of blue water.