Understanding internal water footprint inequality of the Egyptian households based on different income and lifestyles

Abstract

Beyond the physical water scarcity in Egypt, income and expenditure variations can make Egypt’s water crisis even worse, hindering the equitable allocation of its water resources among different uses and consumer groups. This study traces the effects of income and expenditure inequality on the Egyptian households’ internal blue water-footprint (IWF), i.e. domestic freshwater embodied in households’ consumption. It (i) develops a water-extended interregional input-output (IRIO) model between Egypt and the rest of the world, integrated with households’ expenditure of 20 income groups. Thus, households’ IWF responsibility has been allocated to each group. Further, it (ii) calculates the IWF-Gini coefficients, quantifying the IWF inequality across Egypt. Results find that (a) the richest’s average IWF per household is 8.3 folds of the poorest’s. Compared to the latter, the former consumes 5, 24.7, and 29.7 folds of water embodied respectively in edible products, textile, and recreation. (b) Gini coefficients elaborate that IWF of necessities, i.e., agriculture (0.14) and processed food (0.18), are more equally distributed than that of mobility (0.87) and recreation (0.39). This is because luxury products are more consumed by the rich, accounting for a smaller proportion of the population. The study concludes that income-induced differences in diets and lifestyles affect Egyptian households’ IWF and its equality. The study elaborates a need for a more rational-allocative water-saving strategy in Egypt.