David Yawson

Email: d.o.yawson@dundee.ac.uk

PhD Thesis

Virtual Water And Climate Change: Implications For Food Security In The UK

Abstract:

Virtual water is the volume of water used in producing a commodity (in this case, food) that is traded between a center of production and a center of consumption. Agriculture consumes about 80% of the global water withdrawals, and the need to increase food production implies increasing allocation of freshwater to agriculture. Future food and water supplies are threatened by concurrent rise in the demands for food and water, dwindling freshwater resources and the complications of climate change. The UK relies extensively on complex and diverse national and global food supply chains to guarantee its food security. As a result, the concept of virtual water is critical to UK's food security. This study will examine the resilience of UK's food security and virtual water trade in the light of a changing climate. The study uses the UK as a model to explore the virtual water concept, contribute to the debate on the policy relevance of virtual water and to shed light on the criticality of virtual water in securing both national and global food supplies in the face of a changing climate. Central to the study are the quantification of UK's current and future virtual water trade and valuation of green water in food production and consumption.