Morocco
Morocco’s climate is characterized by irregular rainfall and frequent multi-year droughts. Significant geographical variation means that rainfed agriculture is viable in the northwest, but that the southeast is almost entirely dependent on irrigation, with over 80 per cent of the country’s total irrigation being unsustainable (see Annex 1, Table A3). Around half of Morocco’s water resources are in an area occupying only 7 per cent of the country. Over the last three decades, increasing pressures on water supplies as a result of population growth, urbanization and changing consumption patterns have resulted in Morocco having to take unconventional approaches to sourcing freshwater. These approaches have included sewage treatment, seawater desalinization and demineralization of brackish water.
Agriculture is responsible for nearly 90 per cent of the country’s water withdrawals, and irrigated agriculture in Morocco is predominantly export-oriented. Exports fulfil an important role in the economy, with agriculture accounting for over a fifth of export revenue. Nonetheless, Morocco remains a net importer of virtual water, using international trade to supplement domestic water availability in supporting food security, primarily through cereal imports – mainly from Europe and Latin America. However, these virtual water imports have been declining, and the volume of virtual water exports has been increasing under the government’s 2009 export-oriented agricultural policy. A large share of the country’s food and agricultural exports consists of horticultural produce for European markets. High-value horticultural produce (such as citrus fruits, stone fruits and vegetables) destined for export are often much more dependent on irrigation, and more blue water-intensive, than lower-value cereal imports, so from the perspective of the country’s virtual water balance, Morocco’s current approach to agricultural policy and food security is increasingly problematic.
This illustrates how national policy can drive unsustainable water use that – despite having a domestic economic rationale – may be at odds with sustainable use of water and land resources, both for Morocco itself and for the global common good. Put another way, the water use associated with Morocco’s horticultural exports, in addition to stressing Morocco’s own natural resources, does not allow for water and land to be used most efficiently for food and agricultural production on an aggregate global basis. Morocco provides an example of how a country’s trade policies and domestic agricultural policies need to be joined up, so that one set of policies complements the other, to maximize the resource-optimizing potential from virtual water trade.
Pakistan
Pakistan is one of the world’s most water-stressed countries, and by some measures is more at risk from climate-related extreme weather than any other country. In 2022, 10 per cent of Pakistan was submerged by floods, yet the fertile alluvial plains of the Indus Basin, on which most of Pakistan’s agriculture occurs, typically receive little rainfall, and the expansion of agriculture has outstripped the availability of water.
Pakistan is one of the world’s most water-stressed countries, and by some measures is more at risk from climate-related extreme weather than any other country.
Over three-quarters of Pakistan’s renewable water resources come from beyond its borders – with a large proportion dependent on flows from neighbouring India, a political rival of Pakistan. Cultivation of water-intensive crops such as rice and sugar cane (as well as wheat), coupled with unsustainable groundwater extraction that depletes aquifers and degrades soil quality, is causing Pakistan’s water resources to dry up. This threatens food production, millions of farmers’ livelihoods, and the food security of many millions more people. In other parts of the country, inefficient irrigation often results in water seepage, causing waterlogging and excess soil salinity, and transforming formerly fertile fields into barren and unproductive lands.
Inefficient farming means that sugar cane production in Pakistan requires 50 per cent more water than the global average to grow a given amount of cane. Moreover, as the sucrose content of Pakistani cane is low, the country must grow a further 20 per cent more sugar cane (and use 20 per cent more water) to yield the same quantity of sugar as from cane produced more efficiently elsewhere. Water-intensive refining further exacerbates these inefficiencies, with the result that a kilogramme of refined Pakistani cane sugar uses 1,750 litres of water, compared with a global mean value of a little over 600 litres per kilogramme (see Figure 3).
Pakistan’s inefficient rice paddies consume two-thirds more water than is required, for example, under similar climatic conditions in Egypt, where modern irrigation methods are used (though irrigated rice production in water-scarce areas of Egypt presents its own challenges). Nonetheless, Pakistan exports around 4–5 million tonnes of rice each year, much of it to China and Kenya. Partly as a result of this trade, Pakistan’s annual virtual water exports amount to around 10 km³, equivalent to the volume of water used by Karachi’s more than 20 million people in a year and a half.
This case study highlights the importance of investing in efficient farming methods to reduce the water footprint of production and reduce pressure on local water resources. Trade relationships can help with this by directing investment into improvements in the relevant areas. However, this needs to be matched with national water management and economic policy, so that these water footprint savings are used to reduce water stress, not just to expand production.
