SUMMARY
Fresh water scarcity is a major and increasing problem. Increasing water scarcity will have consequences for food security; thus strategies are needed to reduce the appropriation of water. Since agriculture uses 70% of all freshwater withdrawals, the production of food is a major reduction target. Most present reduction strategies are aimed at the decrease of the water footprint of our food. From this perspective, two major strategies are suggested: technology to increase crop yield and trade from water-rich countries to arid countries. This combination will lower the water footprint of crops and of our food. In this research, it is argued that more fundamental reduction strategies are possible. To show this, the food production system is assessed on different scale levels: photosynthesis & macronutrient synthesis level; crop level; agricultural level; and cultural level. By doing so, relevant reduction factors for each scale level are obtained. The lowest scale level is the photosynthesis & macronutrients synthesis. This route needs 100 liter for the production of daily nutritional requirements. Using a combination of crops, excluding the effect of local production circumstances, 200 liter is required to produce our daily diet. Local agricultural influences have an effect on water use: the Dutch system needs 300 liter and the Spanish system needs 700 liter for the production of our diet. In the end, consumer preferences and associated diet choices lead to a daily water appropriation of 1500 liter per capita. Three categories of reduction strategies are suggested in this research. First: ‘shifting cultural choices’ to less meat and low water-consuming products. Second, ‘increasing agricultural efficiency’ to target water inefficiencies in the agriculture. Third, ‘breeding for nutrients’ emphasizes the more fundamental approach which highlights the quality of crops instead of the quantity of crops. This finding ‘It’s the nutrient’ opens a new perspective on crop breeding, fodder production and other issues. Further research is needed to examine more practical applications of this new perspective. By drawing more attention to nutritional quality, water appropriation can be reduced over the total agro-food system.
