Water Footprint Assessment in Nigeria

Water and food are the two most essential substances for the survival of mankind. However, especially arid and semi-arid regions, opted to import the food consumed instead of producing it locally, in order to protect available water resources for other domestic use, and this is termed virtual water trade. This study focused on the semi-arid regions of Nigeria as a case study country. Nigeria is one of the major food production countries in Africa however; some regions tend to experience scarcity of water where the climate is semi-arid. To this background, the study considered an assessment of (1) crops' virtual water, which includes crop water requirements, productions, imports and exports (2) water footprint, which includes net imports and virtual water demand. (3) Cost benefits analysis, which includes assessing the impact of virtual water trade on the economy of the regions through imports-exports cost benefits analysis. All the three sections in this book are combined to provide a comprehensive understanding of water footprint and terms associated with it, which will serve as a valuable and meaningful information that could be of great importance to many scientists.