The Water Footprint and Virtual Water and Their Effect on Food Security in Iraq

Abstract The study aimed to explaining the concepts of water footprint and virtual water and how these two concepts could use to achieve water savings at the local level to meet the water supply deficit in Iraq, which is expected to increase in the coming years and influence of that on food security in Iraq by using these concepts when drawing production, irrigated and import plans in Iraq. The study aimed to studying the water footprint and virtual water and their impact on the foreign trade for wheat and rice crops during the period 2000-2022 and estimating the most important indicators of virtual water and the water footprint of the study crops due to the importance of these criteria in determining the amount of increase or decrease in the area of the studied crops, according to the foreign trade policy. This study was concluded that the average total water footprint of the wheat and rice crops during the study period is (20.27,13.89) billion m3 respectively, and the average percentage of dependence on external water resources for both crops are (20.49%,67.98%) respectively, and the average percentage of self-sufficiency in water resources are (79.51%,32.01%) respectively, and the average unit productivity of irrigation water for both crops is (0.19,0.10) kg/m3 respectively during 2000-2022.The average for the water needs of wheat and rice crops during the study period were (6.04,10.19) m3/kg respectively, the average amounts of water used in local production for both crops are (14.23,4.01) billion m3 respectively, the average amounts of virtual water imported for both crops are (6.19,10.03) billion m3 respectively, and the average value of the imported virtual water for both crops is (382,529) thousand dollars during the period 2000-2022. The study recommended to taking in account these concepts in plans of production and distributing irrigation water.