Water Footprint Assessment of Sheep and Goat in
Different Production Systems along with the CRP DS
Action Site Beni Kedache-Sidi Bouzid (Tunisia)
Ridha Ibidhi1. Hichem Ben Salem2
1
INRA-Tunisie, Laboratoire des Productions Animales et Fourragères, rue Hédi Karray, 2049 Ariana, Tunisia.
2 Diversification and Sustainable Intensification of Production Systems Program, International Center
for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Amman, Jordan.
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CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Water Footprint: Concept and accounting
3. Research Objectives
4. Method & Data
5. Preliminary Results
6. Preliminary Conclusions
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•Growing demand for agricultural products especially in the developing
countries
3
• >90% of total water demand comes
from agriculture of which 31% is for
livestock
• Water for agriculture becoming scarce.
• Need for greater understanding of
human consumption impacts on global
freshwater resources
4
Research Objective and Question
Objective
Estimate the Water footprint of sheep and goat produced in Zoghmar
community (Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia).
Question
The water footprint differs between species ?
Is there a difference on Water Footprint of sheep and goat meat across
seasons, in the action site Beni kedache-Sidi Bouzid? What can we do?
Justification
No knowledge so far on the water resource use for livestock production in
Tunisia- basis for decision making.
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What is the water footprint?
The ‘water footprint’ is a measure of human’s appropriation of
freshwater resources.
► Water footprint is a measurement of the volume of water consumed
(evaporated or otherwise not returned) or assimilation capacity used.
► The water footprint is a geographically & temporally explicit indicator.
► The water footprint is an indicator of water use that looks at both direct
& indirect water use of a consumer or producer.
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Application of water footprint assessment
► Process
► Product
► Business/business sector
► Consumer/group of consumers
► Geographical area
► Humanity
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Components of a water footprint
Green water footprint
► Volume of rainwater evaporated or incorporated into
product.
Blue water footprint
► volume of surface or groundwater evaporated.
Grey water footprint
► volume of polluted water.
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Example of a water footprint of agricultural products
Global average water footprint
litre/kg
Fruits
1000
Cereals
2900
Pulses
4000
Goat
5000
Sheep
7000
Beef
15000
Source: Mekonnen & Hoekstra (2012) A global assessment of the
water footprint of farm animal products, Ecosystems
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Materials and Methods
Methodology as set out in The Water Footprint Assessment Manual (Hoekstra et al., 2011)
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Assessing the water footprint of crop and animal products
Water footprint of a crop
 Crop water use (m3/ha) / Crop yield (ton/ha)
Water footprint of an animal
 Sum of water for feed, drinking and servicing
Water footprint of a crop or livestock product
 Distribute the water footprint of the root product over its derived
products
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Crop water requirement
1. Calculate reference crop evapotranspiration ET0 (mm/day)
e.g. Penman-Monteith equation
2. Calculate crop evapotranspiration Etc (mm/day)
Etc = ET0  Kc where Kc = crop coefficient
3. Calculate crop water requirement CWR (m3/ha)
CWR = Σ Etc [accumulate over growing period]
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The Analytical Tools
1. Water Footprint of Meat
 WF of meat based on the WF of the animal at the end of its lifetime, the
water consumed for processing the slaughtered animal into meat, the
amount of meat derived from one animal, and the relative value of meat
compared to the value of other products derived from the animal.
WF
a, s Σ Feed a, s, p WFservice * p WF drinking a, s
WF *
 p 
P p WFp ro d  p  VWI  p
(1)
(2)
ne
P   P
p
ne
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Model to simulate crop water use and Yield: Aqua crop model
Data
Details
Sources
Climatic
Precipitation
Temp min&max
ET0
Grid based data
CRU-TS- 3.10 (Harris, et
al., 2013)
Soil properties
30x30 arc minute resolution
Local data: Ministry of
agriculture Tunisia
Crop parameters
Planting dates
Growing cycles
Harvesting index
Local data: Ministry of
agriculture Tunisia
Irrigation
Irrigation schedules &
method
Ministry of agriculture
Tunisia
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Area of study
• Delineation of livestock production
systems
• We describe a production
system : Agro-pastoral.
• Small ruminants’ production is the main
source of income of many households
in the region of Sidi Bouzid (Tunisia).
• Water scarcity and feed shortage
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Preliminary Results & discussion
Figure 1. Average water footprint of feed (liter /kg)
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Average Water Footprint of Sheep and Goat Meat
6222 liter/kg of carcass
94 %
5%
1%
4521 liter/Kg carcass
94 %
5%
1%
► Goat meat was more sustainable in term of use of water than sheep meat
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Water Footprint of Sheep and Goat among Seasons
Water Footprint (liter/Kg of carcass)
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
Sheep
Goat
3000
2000
1000
0
winter
Spring
Seasons
Summer
Figure 2. Water Footprint of Sheep and Goat among Seasons in Zoghmar Community
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Summer WF was lowest due to:
 Water efficiency of diet ingredients distributed to sheep and goat such
as cactus.
 Feed intake in summer was the lowest.
291 liter/ Kg
352 liter/ Kg
1039 liter/ Kg
 Use of feed with low water footprint.
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Conclusion
Water Footprint Assessment is a simple & elegant concept which enables
us to:

Understand the geographic allocation of water resources agriculture
and domestic water supply.
 Evaluate the efficiency of water use: consumption & pollution.
 Determine the sustainability of water use: e.g. water scarcity and water
pollution levels.
 Identify the most strategic actions to improve the sustainability,
efficiency and equitability of water use.
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Conclusion
Water footprint give a better perspective of the use of water resources.
The study provides a basis on which resource use efficiency
gains can be made e.g. species and diet composition changes.
There is a need for further study on:
• Water footprint sustainability assessment of the use of water
resources for livestock production.
• Water productivity assessment of animal products.
• Choose the best production system in term of water saving.
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Thank you!
Questions?
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