5 Reality and Challenges of China’s Water Resources Management …
177
Fig. 5.12 Change in consumer expenditure structure and water footprint for Chinese residents from
1992 to 2012. Source of image: Cai et al. (2019)
also concluded that food consumption was the biggest contributor to total water footprint and such footprint has been on the rise since 2007, which can be explained by
the rising meat consumption in the diet thanks to higher income, and meats consume
much more water than other foods. Other studies also echoes the importance of food
consumption to water footprint. Due to the high intensity of water usage in agriculture and China’s top ranking in the water footprint of both food consumption
and production, measurement of water footprint in this respect has always been the
centerpiece of domestic research (Fig. 5.12).
The dynamic temporal variation in water footprint of food consumotion has
attracted growing interest from the research community in recent years. The current
consensus from research findings is that water footprint of food consumption is on
the rise. Tian et al. (2013) chose major crops and measured water footprint of their
consumption in China from 1978 to 2010. The results revealed an increase of 2.01%
in water footprint in 2010 from 1978. Yang and Mu (2018) collected the panel data
of 31 provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) from 1999 to 2012 and
assessed the changes in food consumption mix and variation in water footprint in the
context of higher income with the QUAIDS model, discovering that consumption of
various foods showed steady increase with rising income of urban dwellers, and that
foods of higher water footprint such as melons and dairy products saw faster increase
in consumption, leading to a sustained ramp-up in per capita water footprint of food
consumption. From 1999 to 2012, the per capita figure grew by 32.8%, of which faster
growth was spotted in northeast and central China. Zheng et al. (2019) measured
the water footprint of food consumption of urban and rural residents, concluding
177
Fig. 5.12 Change in consumer expenditure structure and water footprint for Chinese residents from
1992 to 2012. Source of image: Cai et al. (2019)
also concluded that food consumption was the biggest contributor to total water footprint and such footprint has been on the rise since 2007, which can be explained by
the rising meat consumption in the diet thanks to higher income, and meats consume
much more water than other foods. Other studies also echoes the importance of food
consumption to water footprint. Due to the high intensity of water usage in agriculture and China’s top ranking in the water footprint of both food consumption
and production, measurement of water footprint in this respect has always been the
centerpiece of domestic research (Fig. 5.12).
The dynamic temporal variation in water footprint of food consumotion has
attracted growing interest from the research community in recent years. The current
consensus from research findings is that water footprint of food consumption is on
the rise. Tian et al. (2013) chose major crops and measured water footprint of their
consumption in China from 1978 to 2010. The results revealed an increase of 2.01%
in water footprint in 2010 from 1978. Yang and Mu (2018) collected the panel data
of 31 provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) from 1999 to 2012 and
assessed the changes in food consumption mix and variation in water footprint in the
context of higher income with the QUAIDS model, discovering that consumption of
various foods showed steady increase with rising income of urban dwellers, and that
foods of higher water footprint such as melons and dairy products saw faster increase
in consumption, leading to a sustained ramp-up in per capita water footprint of food
consumption. From 1999 to 2012, the per capita figure grew by 32.8%, of which faster
growth was spotted in northeast and central China. Zheng et al. (2019) measured
the water footprint of food consumption of urban and rural residents, concluding