Abstract
Today, the security, stability and environmental sustainability of developing nations are threatened by the growing global water crisis. This crisis is partly due to water governance. Improving water infrastructure must be a priority, as water conservation and efficiency are key components of sustainable water management. The idea of virtual water import/export as a method to ease the pressure on the available domestic water resources is a concern for sustainable water management. This concept of virtual water further extends the scope of water resources management beyond the boundary of natural watershed. Since the water use of a given watershed can be influenced by water use outside of the watershed through virtual water transfers, it is not sufficient to confine the water resources management to the basin or catchment scale. The role of virtual water in bridging the gap between supply and demand of water is underestimated. Although invisible, the importance of ‘virtual water' can be an effective means for water-scarce countries to preserve their domestic water resources. This paper examines the virtual water concepts in relation to per capita water availability taking 2000 to 2015 years as the period of analysis. The results of the study showed that the total exported and imported virtual water in the period of analysis in Ethiopia is 113 billion m<sup>3</sup> and 10.9 billion m<sup>3</sup> respectively. These values showed that Ethiopia is a net virtual water exporter. The maximum and minimum per-capita water availability during the analysis period was 2590 m<sup>3</sup>/cap/year and 1740 m<sup>3</sup>/cap/year respectively. These results indicated no water stress in the period of analysis.
Highlights
IntroductionEthiopia is a landlocked country located between 33° to 48°E longitude and 3° to 15° N latitude
The water footprint of a product is the sum of the water footprints of the processes steps taken to produce the product
The paper aims to demonstrate the detailed analysis of the water footprint and its share in per-capita water availability of Ethiopia thorough assessment of the virtual water flows leaving and entering the country from different commodities
Summary
Ethiopia is a landlocked country located between 33° to 48°E longitude and 3° to 15° N latitude. Ethiopia has a geographical area of 1.104. It is a land of great geographical diversity: topographic features ranging from the lowest depression (Dalol) at 116m below msl to the highest peak (Ras Dashen) at 4,620m above sea level. The climatic conditions of the country are elevation (altitude) dependent, with temperature as high as 47°C in Denakil depression and as low as 10°C in the highlands [2]. The country is located within the tropics, and its physical characteristics and variations in altitude have resulted in the great diversity of terrain, climate, soil, flora, and fauna.
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