Agriculture's water footprint
4-6-2009 | CSR news
Calculating a water footprint is becoming more important for companies and countries involved in food and agribusiness. Agriculture is the largest water user. Since Rabobank is a major financier of food and agribusiness, water footprint discussions can offer new business opportunities, says Rabobank Water Manager Peter Vos.
Calculating a water footprint
In order to measure water efficiency, the concept of the water footprint has been created with some common figures for water use in everyday products:
- 140 liters of water to make 1 cup of coffee with milk and sugar
- 1000 liters of water to make 1 liter of milk
- 8000 liters of water to make 1 pair of leather shoes
- 16,000 liters of water to produce 1 kilo of beef.
A country’s water footprint
Each country has an internal and external water footprint. The internal footprint is volume of water used from domestic water resources. The external water footprint shows the volume of water used in other countries to produce goods and services that are imported. Calculated together, these footprints show the total water a country is using, producing and consuming goods and services.
Factors contributing to a country’s water footprint are meat consumption, water-using devices and personal hygiene. The country with the highest water footprint is the United States with more than 2.4 million liters per person per year, which is three times higher the footprint of a Chinese inhabitant. A Dutchman uses on average 1.2 million liters per year, which is somewhat below the global average.
Exporting water
Water is also being transferred from country to country by the import and export of water rich products. For example, water is very scarce in northern China and abundant in southern China. However, water is being transported from north to south in products with high water usage. Exporting water through products is also happening in lands with water scarcity like Africa and Australia, who export to water abundant areas like Europe.
Corporate water footprint
Calculating the internal and external water footprint of a company is needed to get a clear picture on the total water used in the supply chain. In the forefront of water footprint discussions are companies in the beverage industry. With water as a critical input for production, water shortages can cause operational risks.
Among the first to look at water use was Coca-Cola and Nestlé. Not only did these companies look at their own production processes, but also their suppliers and consumers. Currently, water in their own production processes consist of only 1 percent of the total water use in the supply chain.
Rabobank’s involvement
Large corporate companies are interested in the production processes of farmers and smallholders, but lack Rabobank’s knowledge and networks. As a part of risk management, we have to know how much water and other resources our clients are using and whether water efficiency can be improved. Water footprint discussions can intensify our business relationships and offer new business opportunities. Our binder is corporate social responsibility.
