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Virtual water flows and water value in Tunisia: The case of wheat and olive

Arabian Journal of Geosciences volume 12, Article number: 421 (2019) Cite this article

Abstract

Virtual water (VW) refers to freshwater that may be imported or exported via goods that are traded on international markets. VW trade could be considered as a potential solution for water scarcity in countries facing risks of water shortage. This paper aims to assess virtual water content and economic indicators of water use in wheat and olive at various bioclimatic stages in Tunisia. Data was collected from a sample of 113 wheat producers and 123 olive producers, through a survey including technical and economic questions. Olive is chosen as it is the raw material for olive oil, the most strategic exported agricultural product, while wheat is the main imported agricultural product. A water footprint network methodology is used to estimate water productivity and VW flows. Results indicate that by importing wheat, Tunisia is saving up to 1.39 Billion cubic metres (km3) of water. Olive oil exports correspond to 2.44 km3 of exported water. From an economic perspective, the highest irrigation water value is estimated around 1 Tunisian Dinar (TND)/m3 for olive trees in the lower semi-arid regions where it is only around 0.29 TND/m3 for wheat. At the national level, for rain-fed agriculture, olives have higher economic water productivity. Irrigation water value is estimated at 0.51 TND/m3 for olives and 0.40 TND/m3 for wheat. According to our findings, wheat production should be encouraged in the humid and sub-humid regions while olive production should be encouraged in arid and semi-arid areas, in order to generate higher water value in these regions and increase exports revenues of foreign currency.

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Fig. 1

Notes

  1. The interbank average market exchange rate for 2012: 1$ (United States Dollar) = 1.29 TND (Tunisian Dinar)

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all the members of the project (EVSAT-CAD) ‘Virtual Water and Food Security in Tunisia: From the Finding to the Development Support’ for their contributions.

Funding

The project was funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)—Canada.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Sousse, P.O.Box 526, Rue khalifa karoui sahloul 4, Sousse, Tunisia

    Asma Souissi & Chokri Thabet

  2. Higher Agronomic Institute of Chott Meriem, P.O. Box 47, 4042, Chott-Mériem, Tunisia

    Asma Souissi & Chokri Thabet

  3. National Research Institute for Rural Engineering, Water and Forestry, Tunis, Tunisia

    Ali Chebil

  4. University of Carthage, P.O.Box 77, Avenue de la République, Ariana, 1054, Tunisia

    Ali Chebil

  5. International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), P.P. Box 30709, Nairobi, Kenya

    Nadhem Mtimet

  6. Ecole Supérieure d’Agriculture de Mograne – University of Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia

    Nadhem Mtimet

Authors
  1. Asma Souissi
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  2. Ali Chebil
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  3. Nadhem Mtimet
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  4. Chokri Thabet
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Asma Souissi.

Additional information

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Geo-environmental integration for sustainable development of water, energy, environment and society

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Souissi, A., Chebil, A., Mtimet, N. et al. Virtual water flows and water value in Tunisia: The case of wheat and olive. Arab J Geosci 12, 421 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-019-4589-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-019-4589-4

Keywords

  • Virtual water
  • Water value
  • Bioclimatic stages
  • Wheat and olive
  • Tunisia

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