Water Footprint Food Supply Chain

A risk with a potential financial impact of us 2 5 billion according to the the carbon disclosure project s cdp supply chain resilience is threatened as increasingly globalized food value chains drive water extraction use and discharge at every stage from field to shelf.

Water footprint food supply chain. Water footprints account for water use along entire supply or production chains which can be messy just to map let alone assess. While the water footprint of whole foods like fruits and vegetables is made up entirely of water needed to grow processed foods require additional water for things like cleaning the food and machinery pre cooking the food producing fuel for delivery and making packaging materials. The water footprint can help all producers learn about their water dependence and plot a course for addressing water related business risks. Food waste emissions are large.

Of the agricultural sector. Animal feed land conversion and methane production from cows. A business s water footprint is a measurement of the total water consumed to produce the goods and services it provides. Across all foods the land use and farm stages of the supply chain account for 80 of ghg emissions.

Take fiji water for instance. The water footprint of a product good or service is the volume of fresh water used to produce the product summed over the various steps of the production chain. One quarter of emissions 3 3 billion tonnes of co 2 eq from food production ends up as wastage either from supply chain losses or consumers. It is not only measures the water we use from the tap but the hidden water used to produce our food energy clothes cars and other items.

Whilst supply chain emissions may seem high at 18 it s essential for reducing emissions by preventing food waste. In beef production for example there are three key contributing factors to the carbon footprint at these stages. Notorious for being a luxury good with a troubling profile fiji water s plastic bottle life cycle exposes a predicament for consumers who think they are buying a product that is healthy but in fact could be quite damaging to the environment. Water is a crucial resource for every business whether you sell food electronics clothing or other consumer items.

While the price of water is rarely a driving force many companies are awakening to the fact that their business is reliant on water in their operations or their supply chain. The water footprint is the amount of water consumed by human activity as well as the assimilation capacity used the ability of a body of water to cleanse itself. Water footprint assessment in supply chains.