STUDENT-LED SEMINAR SERIES BY WATER & ARM PROGRAMMES
Tuesday 20th January 12:00 – 14:00
Speaker: Tony Allan
Location: Pyramid Room
Speaker: Tony Allan
Location: Pyramid Room
Title: Who Manages Water? Global Food Regimes, Supply Chains, and Food Prices: Some Contradictions
Professor Tony Allan is based at KCL and SOAS and specialises in the analysis of water resources in semi-arid regions and on the role of global systems in ameliorating local and regional water deficits. In 2013 he received the international Environmentalist Award and the Monaco Water Award. For the purpose of this seminar, Tony will highlight the exceptional levels of water consumption associated with food production.
Food systems have been researched and evaluated by many scientists, development experts and practitioners. But the role of water in the global political economy is not understood by those who manage it and those who depend on it. 90% of global consumptive use takes place in food supply chains making agriculture by far the major consumer of water on the planet. At the same time, global water scarcity is posing increasing challenges to the further globalization of food. The interconnections between global food regimes and water resources will be highlighted. It will be argued that water needs to be understood as a major underlying fundamental of the global food system. The current and future pressures on water resources by competing users – in what has become known as the water-food-trade/energy and climate change nexus – will be noted. It will be shown that unappreciated farmers facing high risks are the key managers of this strategic resource.
Increasing water scarcity and the mismanagement of available water resources are major reasons for a shift in the corporate food regime from the long-standing domination by Western traders to new Asian emerging players. New producers and traders in Russia, China and South Asia (the NOWS) are challenging the ABCD traders in global food markets. Water is a strategic resource behind this shift in global ag-politics making it a field of study of great relevance for those interested in food systems.