Oxford Handbook of Food, Water and Society

Food, water and society: what is managed by whom, and with what impacts?

Our food supply chains are at risk. Water resources--sometimes scarce, often damaged, and always under-valued--are among the major reasons why food and water security rank high every year in the World Economic Forum's major global risk analysis. A stable and sustainable food system is critical to society's survival. This Handbook shows that keeping the food system stable comes at the expense of the environment, especially of water resources and those who consume and manage them.

The way the food system operates reflects hard political realities. Rather than pay for the environmental costs of sustainable production, society expects food at ever lower prices. Governments reflect their electorates in this regard. Given that farm production may account for as little as 10% of the food value chain in wealthy economies, it is striking that governments have been unwilling (or unable) to put in place the essential laws and accountability that would enable famers to ensure both production and stewardship. Corporate food traders, food manufacturers, and retailers on the other hand operate in markets that make profits and pay taxes. But these corporations are not contractually bound to utilize highly nutritious, sustainably produced food commodities.

The articles in this Oxford Handbook have been written by water and food system scientists and professionals, including farmers, rarely heard voices who understand the problems of food producers, food manufacturers, and regulating markets and public policy. The articles address the blind spots of society and its public policymakers, demonstrating the importance of informing society about the consequences of its food preferences and the heroic challenges it is beginning to face. The damage we are doing to our water and soil ecosystems is as important as the damage we do to the atmosphere. Impressed by the technical and organizational advances of the past two centuries, the contributors featured in this book also take note of where economic inefficiencies and cultural deadlock in a 4,000 year old system are putting our critical food supply chains at risk.

About the Author:
Tony Allan, PhD is based at King's College London and SOAS London. He specializes in the analysis of water resources in semi-arid regions and on the role of global systems in ameliorating local and regional water deficits. He pointed out that water short economies achieve water and food security not on the basis of their own water endowments but by importing water intensive food commodities - a concept which he found he had to call "virtual water." For the past decade he has analyzed our very politicized food system, highlighting that how the "broken" food system operates determines how water is managed and mismanaged by farmers.

Brendan Bromwich is an environmental engineer with experience of water problems in complex social and political contexts. He has worked in the private sector, NGOs and the UN in Europe, Asia, and Africa with a focus on water infrastructure and on institutional change. His PhD thesis examines institutional change and conflict over natural resources and is based on his experience coordinating UN Environment's work in Sudan. He holds degrees in Environmental Engineering from Imperial College and in Geography from King's College London.

Martin Keulertz, PhD works as Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the American University of Beirut, where he chairs AUB's Food Security Program. He previously worked as a post-doctoral research fellow at Purdue University (USA) and Humboldt University Berlin (Germany). He obtained his PhD at King's College London (UK) in 2013, his MSc in Middle East Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) and a BA in Political and Social Sciences at the University of Wales, Bangor in 2007. Martin's research interests center around the water-food-energy nexus with a particular focus on the Arab world, North America, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, he has published on the global political economy of water and food.

Anthony Colman, PhD is Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Cape Town, University of East Anglia and the Columbia Water Center. His current work is on the UNFCCC Koronivia agenda to reduce GHG emissions and ensure the adaptation of agriculture. He is completing a trilogy study of Cape Town, New York City, and London's planning for drinking water. He was the UK MP for Putney from 1997 to 2005. He is a member of the World Future Council. His work brings together the disciplines of academia, political realism, and the private sector.