Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Fujian Key Laboratory of Watershed Ecology, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Fujian Key Laboratory of Watershed Ecology, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Feb 25;809:152196. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152196. Epub 2021 Dec 7.
In Africa, water resources pervade multiple sustainable development goals (SDGs), which mainly focus on eliminating poverty (SDG 1) and hunger (SDG 2), promoting good health and well-being (SDG 3) and supporting clean water and sanitation (SDG 6). Africa's water scarcity problems have been worsened by population growth and climate change. Agriculture is the largest consumer of water in Africa, and a clear understanding of the water-food nexus is necessary to effectively alleviate water-related pressures on food security. Water footprint (WF) accounts and decompositions provide insights into water management planning for policy-makers. We investigated the WF of food consumption from 2000 to 2018 in 23 African countries and used the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) to decompose its driving forces into consumption structure, per capita food consumption, water intensity and population effect. The WF of food consumption increased from 609.8 km in 2000 to 1212.9 km in 2018, with an average annual growth rate of 3.7%. The population effect contributed most to this change (64.6%), followed by per capita food consumption (28.3%) and consumption structure (7.1%). Cereals (46.7%) and livestock (24.4%) were the major contributors to the increase in the total WF. Our findings highlight that controlling population growth and improving water efficiency are effective measures to relieve water-related pressures on food consumption. However, a healthy dietary structure must also be promoted because Africa's current dietary energy level is below the global average. Moreover, nine countries in the research area have an inadequate supply of dietary energy; this will inevitably drive the WF of food, as calories increase and diets change. This study is helpful for understanding the water-food nexus in Africa and provides strategies to conserve water and enhance food production.
在非洲，水资源与多个可持续发展目标（SDGs）密切相关，这些目标主要聚焦于消除贫困（SDG1）和饥饿（SDG2）、促进良好健康与福祉（SDG3）以及支持清洁饮水和卫生设施（SDG6）。人口增长和气候变化使非洲的水资源短缺问题更加严重。农业是非洲最大的水资源消费者，因此，需要清楚地了解水-粮食关系，以有效缓解与粮食安全相关的水压力。水足迹（WF）核算和分解为决策者提供了水管理规划的见解。我们调查了 2000 年至 2018 年期间 23 个非洲国家的食物消费 WF，并使用对数平均迪氏分解指数（LMDI）将其驱动因素分解为消费结构、人均食物消费量、水强度和人口效应。2000 年至 2018 年期间，食物消费 WF 从 609.8km³增加到 1212.9km³，年均增长率为 3.7%。人口效应（64.6%）是造成这一变化的主要原因，其次是人均食物消费量（28.3%）和消费结构（7.1%）。谷物（46.7%）和牲畜（24.4%）是 WF 总量增加的主要原因。研究结果表明，控制人口增长和提高水效率是缓解与食物消费相关的水压力的有效措施。但是，还必须促进健康的饮食结构，因为非洲目前的饮食能水平低于全球平均水平。此外，研究区域内的 9 个国家的膳食能量供应不足；这势必会推动食物 WF，因为卡路里增加和饮食变化。本研究有助于了解非洲的水-粮食关系，并为节约用水和提高粮食生产提供策略。
