Development Aspects Impressum Editors

Introduction

This study investigates the role that water demand management (WDM) in agri- culture can play in the transition to the Green Economy in the Mediterranean-rim countries. The purpose is twofold: first, to identify the scope of the Mediterranean

countries’ water question vis-à-vis the demographic, economic and environmental challenges the region is now facing; and second, to analyse the potential for WDM interventions in agriculture – namely, the adoption of demand-regulating market mechanisms and the increase in water use efficiency – to stimulate the develop- ment of green water economies.

Water scarcity is a common predicament in many arid and semi-arid Mediter- ranean economies.¹ The availability of water has become a limiting factor or even a constraint on the activities of economic development that are water-intensive. The water shortage brings very difficult challenges for those using, allocating and managing water in the region. As agricultural production requires between 65 and 85 per cent of total water withdrawals, the region’s water deficit has brought about relevant food security challenges, especially in the southern and eastern econo- mies. The region as a whole is a net importer of food; the largest volumes of virtual water “flows” are associated with the import of cereals, vegetables, oil and sugar by the southern and eastern-rim countries (Yang, Wang and Zehnder, 2007). Irri- gated crop production is a very attractive option for farmers because of the preva- lence of high temperatures throughout the region’s territory, but it has also caused land degradation and water resource overexploitation. The situation is also likely to get worse as freshwater availability is expected to drop as a consequence of cur- rent social, economic and environmental trends. In this context, responding to the water crisis and “adjusting” current practices is a non-negotiable requirement for ensuring that future demands will be met.
The study is structured as follows: the next section outlines the scope of the Mediterranean region’s water challenge. The following section is concerned with the suggested WDM strategies in agriculture, namely irrigation water charging systems, and water use efficiency in both rain-fed and irrigated agriculture. A fur- ther section is devoted to exploring the issue of capacity-building in the context of water resources management. The final section draws some conclusions and offers specific policy recommendations.

2.