Water and Food Security for Sugar in Egypt

Abstract

Sugar is one of the most important strategic food commodities for many of the world’s countries. The principal research problem surrounds the fact that domestic sugar production is unable to meet the requirements of increasing demand; therefore, the research aimed to assess the state of water and food security for sugar in Egypt. The results of the research were as follows. The quantity of virtual water exported ranged from lowest to maximum of 375.7 million m3 and1278 million m3 during 2012 and 2016, respectively. The inland water footprint also ranged from a lower to upper point of about 1979 million m3 and 3570.5 million m3 during 2011 and 2015. The quantity of virtual water imported ranged from a minimum to maximum of 1,705.4 million m and 3,2934.8 million m3 during 2017 and 2020, and the external water footprint can be cited as being between a minimum and maximum of about 983.6 million m3 and 2081million m3 during 2011 and 2017; the total water footprint was set between a minimum and maximum of about 2962.6 million m3 and 5615.5 million m3 with regard to food security in Egypt, thus reflecting 0.011 in 2019. The research therefore recommends that the concept of virtual water should be introduced in the development of the agricultural sector’s future strategy to ensure the adoption of less water-use agricultural production systems, focusing on the import of agricultural products with high water needs. KEYWORDS Food gap, food security, self-sufficiency, strategic stock, virtual water, water footprint