The risks to Spain's agricultural sectors are increasing due to climate change’s effects. After a poor cereal harvest, the ravages of the ongoing drought are spreading to other crops such as grapes and olives. As droughts and heavy rains will become more frequent and more intense, Spain has to adapt because it is spending more water than it can afford.
Fig. 1. Evolution of total cereal production in Spain
Despite the low production, the high volume of imports, together with the fall in consumption mainly due to the reduction in livestock numbers, made it possible to build up a carryover reserve for the following marketing year of 3.6 million tonnes, the highest in recent marketing years. This level of reserves represents 10% of consumption.
The various forecasts for the new marketing year 2023/24 predict even worse yields, which for winter cereals could mean a reduction compared to the previous year of between 28 and 50 %, for maize of between 13 and 47 % or for sunflower of 30 %. Spain faces a challenging scenario with low cereal production, which will require turning to the international market to compensate for losses, but there are risks related to the conflict in Ukraine, supplies from Brazil and increased exposure to climate risks, according to the report by Pablo Resco for Cajamar.
Fig. 2. Water use in Spain
“ Two percent of Spaniards spend 80% of the water”
That was the headline of a recent article published in the main national newspaper. According to the article, agriculture uses 80.4% of the water consumed in Spain, taking into account that the country has around 935,000 farmers. In other words, less than 2% of the population consumes 8 out of every 10 litres available. The biggest consumers are the regions with the largest irrigated areas: Andalucía, Murcia, Valencia Region, Castilla y León and Aragón.
Francisco Castillo reacted in Plataforma Tierra, pointing out on the need for the media to differentiate themselves from the competition by using eye-catching headlines, which may not reflect the truth about a sector, but nevertheless influence public opinion. According to this agricultural engineer, there are three undeniable facts: Spain is going through a prolonged period of drought; agriculture in Spain consumes 80.4% of all water; and Spanish irrigation needs new technologies to improve its efficiency. For years, Spain has been engaged in investment plans for the modernisation of its irrigation systems, which have more recently been joined by funds from NextGenerationEU.
The food water footprint
On the other hand, according to official figures, as Castillo quotes, Spanish irrigation sector reduced its water consumption by 29.9% between 2000 and 2018 (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3. Water consumption per unit area in Spain's irrigated lands (2000-2018)
Nevertheless, as the news’ misleading headline indicates, it is necessary to replace the current irrigation systems with more efficient ones, as well as to implement new digital technologies to continue with this process. However, it is not true that 80.4% of Spain's water resources are consumed by more than 900,000 farmers. The food that farmers produce is not for their own consumption, i.e. 80% of the country's water resources are used to satisfy the food demands of the population.
Why are other actors in the agri-food value chain, such as industry, marketing and distribution, not included in this water consumption? Why are the consumers of these foods not included in this water demand? For Mr. Castillo, the food water footprint should be shared between chain operators and consumers. The former by producing, transforming, marketing and consuming the food, and the latter by using it in their own food.