Jenny Kehl, an associate professor of political science at Rutgers–Camden, says drought-prone countries are exporting crops that are produced by using a large amount of water, which puts even more strain on the country’s water supply.
“It’s an emerging problem,” says Kehl. “As water scarcity increases, hidden water exports will start to get more attention.”
Kehl is the recipient of the Abe Fellowship from the Social Science Research Council. The fellowship is designed to encourage international multidisciplinary research on topics of pressing global concern.
Her research focuses on water trade in agriculture, the largest source of hidden water exports. Also referred to as virtual water, hidden water is the amount of water used in the entire process of producing, retailing, and consuming a product.
High virtual water products are mostly grains, which constitute the largest part of the international food crop trade. For example, it takes 500 liters of water to produce a cup of rice. If a water-scarce country is producing rice and exporting it, think of the thousands of liters of water the country is losing.
“Water-poor countries should import water-intensive foods and grains and export products with less virtual water content,” says Kehl. “If you are living in drought-prone conditions, it’s not smart to be exporting water-intensive products.”
Fruits and vegetables are examples of food products with relatively little virtual water. The amount of embedded water within similar products varies between nations due to different climates, irrigation techniques, and technology.
"I’m calling for domestic policies on water exports in the international food crop trade,” Kehl explains. “I believe each country should have a policy regarding how much hidden water it exports.”
The fellowship provides Kehl with the funding to travel to five different locations to study crucial river systems for her research. Within the next year, she’ll gather data from the Seta and Shinano rivers in Japan, the Mekong River, which runs through Asia, and the Colorado and Mississippi rivers in the United States.
“I’m looking at variability, population growth, food demand, and urbanization in those areas,” says Kehl, who notes that the U.S. does not have a large problem with virtual water exports.
“I’m focusing on crucial freshwater river systems that have high variability in water-flow,” she explains. “The research examines how trade policy affects water-use efficiency and food security in these regions.”
Through her research, Kehl’s goal is to inform policy makers of the hidden water trade, quantify water exports, increase water-use efficiency, and improve global food security.
Kehl says the Abe Fellowship is “an endorsement of the increasing importance of this issue. It gives it the recognition it hasn’t received, but deserves.”
A Philadelphia resident, Kehl teaches international development and natural resource policy at the Camden Campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Kehl received her bachelor’s degree from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., and her master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her research has appeared in several noteworthy scholarly journals.
Media Contact: Ed Moorhouse
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E-mail: ejmoor@camden.rutgers.edu