November 15, 2018
Nuhad Daghir, Dean Emeritus, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences - AUB
Since the beginning of the 21st century, demand for animal products has been increasing all over the World and particularly in the MENA region. The reasons for this increase has been due to population growth, rising incomes, and increased urbanization (FAO, 2018). This increase which is estimated at about 50% during the past decade (2006-2016) compared to the previous decade (1995-2005) is putting more demand on water resources in a region that is already suffering from water shortages.
Based on few recent studies, the Water Footprint (WFP) of poultry production seems to have lower impact on water resources than the other animal enterprises. Mekonnen and Hoekstra (2012) published a study on the WFP of farm animal products and concluded that globally, the WFP of animal products are the largest for industrial systems of production. It is well known that poultry is the fastest growing agricultural sector world-wide and this is especially true for developing countries. Mottet and Tempio (2017) reviewed the current state of the poultry sector and discussed the future outlook for the industry. They reported that the global poultry industry is expected to continue growing, while facing several challenges including water scarcity.
We have recently completed a study on the WFP of animal products in the MENA region (Daghir et. al., 2018). The objective of the study was to determine the WFP for different animal products in the region. The study showed that 90% of water needed for producing animal products goes into the production of feed needed for these animals. The WFP of animal products in the MENA region varied from 862 m3/ton for milk to 15,616 m3/ton for beef meat. The WFP for poultry meat and eggs was found to be considerably lower than that for red meat (beef, sheep and goats). These figures are fairly comparable to the global levels (see Figure 1). Our study also showed that about 65% of grains and 90% of soybean meals used for animal feeding is imported from outside the region. These imports have been saving approximately 140 billion m3/year of water for the MENA region. Countries in the MENA region should push for the production of poultry meat and eggs in preference to red meat, thus contributing to improvements in food and water security. To contribute further to water saving, the region should also concentrate more on the production of feeds from rain fed crops rather than irrigated crops.
