{"id":1233,"date":"2017-11-10T14:16:12","date_gmt":"2017-11-10T05:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/en_cms\/?page_id=1233"},"modified":"2017-12-18T17:24:42","modified_gmt":"2017-12-18T08:24:42","slug":"special26_2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/english\/world-hunger\/special-issue\/special26_2\/","title":{"rendered":"How Japan&#8217;s food is dependent on invisible &#8220;water&#8221; imports. 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Special Issue<\/h1>\n<div id=\"breadcrumb\" class=\"cf\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/\">Home<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/english\/world-hunger\/\">World Hunger<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/english\/world-hunger\/special-issue\/\">Special Issue<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<article class=\"special\">\n<p class=\"date\">No.26\u3000\u3000\u30001 Dec. 2009<\/p>\n<h1>How Japan\u2019s food is dependent on invisible \u201cwater\u201d imports.<\/h1>\n<div class=\"sns_btn\"><a class=\"twitter-share-button\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\">Tweet<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"fb-like\" data-share=\"true\" data-show-faces=\"true\" data-action=\"like\" data-layout=\"button_count\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/english\/world-hunger\/special-issue\/special26_2\/\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\">\n<div class=\"leftCol\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"530\" height=\"190\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/26_top.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/26_top.jpg 530w, https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/26_top-250x90.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/26_top-120x43.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 530px) 100vw, 530px\" \/>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rightCol indexNav\">\n<h2>INDEX<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"..\/special26_1\/\"><span>P1<\/span><span>How Japan\u2019s food is dependent on invisible \u201cwater\u201d imports.<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>P2<\/span><span>How about the state of water globally?<br \/>-There is a silently spreading water crisis in the world-<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"..\/special26_3\/\"><span>P3<\/span><span>Food in Japan, linked to the world\u2019s water problems.<br \/>-How the world\u2019s water can be conserved-<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>How about the state of water globally?<\/h2>\n<h3>In Japan, whenever you need water you can just turn on the faucet. <br \/>\nBut globally, there is a silently spreading water crisis.<\/h3>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Only 0.01% of the earth\u2019s water is at our immediate disposal.<\/h3>\n<div class=\"clear\">\n<div class=\"leftCol\">\n<p>How much water is there on the earth anyway? According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, 97.5% of the world\u2019s water is contained in oceans and seas, and the remaining 2.5% is fresh water. However, of this fresh water, approximately seven-tenths is in the form of glaciers and icebergs. These sources are not at the ready disposal of humans.<\/p>\n<p>And yet the bulk of the 0.8% of global water supply that humans can use is groundwater. The ten trillion m\u00b3 of water contained in rivers, lakes and the like amounts to about 0.01%of the global water total. This is the total amount of water resources that humans can readily use, about three times the 3.5720 trillion m\u00b3 of water used globally. While \u201cthree times\u201d may sound like a lot, considering the fact that rivers and lakes would dry up if we used the entire amount, it is by no means a lot. This water is part of a cycle where it evaporates, turns into clouds, and falls back to the earth as rain\u2014the total amount of water neither increases or decreases.<\/p>\n<p>This stands in contrast to groundwater. While there is also a cyclical process by which rainwater soaks back into the soil to become groundwater, the replenishment of supplies for most groundwater takes a long time. As humans draw up this water, reserves of groundwater are lost.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"527\" height=\"204\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/26_05.gif\" alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1234\" \/><\/p>\n<div align=\"right\">\n<p class=\"sTxt\">Source:  Nihon no mizu shigen (Japan\u2019s Water Resources) 2007 edition,<br \/>\nMinistry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rightCol\">\n<img src=\"https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/26_02_1.jpg\" alt=\"26_02_1\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3095\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"sTxt\">In rural areas of Burkina Faso, people take nutrition by mixing millet, pepper, and shea butter with water<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/26_02_2.jpg\" alt=\"26_02_2\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3096\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"sTxt\">There are many rivers in Bangladesh. Rivers play important roles, not just for domestic use and for agriculture, but also for distribution of commodities<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Population doubles, water consumption quadruples.<\/h3>\n<p>And yet, the amount of water used by humans is increasing quickly. Researchers at the 3rd World Water Forum in 2003 reported that \u201cwhile in the last 50 years the world\u2019s population doubled, water consumption quadrupled.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The speed of growth in water consumption, which is twice the rate of population growth, can be attributed to changes in diets. As we have grown more prosperous, there has been a shift towards diets characterized by quality rather than quantity, and we have come to eat a lot of meat, dairy products and oils. Large quantities of grain are consumed in the production of such foodstuffs. As the economies of countries including Japan have grown and diets have undergone rapid shifts, an indirect result has been an increase in the consumption of grains, accompanied by the necessary increase in water used by agriculture. Reflecting continued population increases, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries projects that in comparison to 1995 levels, there will be a 26% jump in the annual global water use for agricultural purposes by 2025. If the consumption of meat, dairy products and oils grows faster than expected, this figure will grow even larger.<\/p>\n<p>In many countries there are signs of looming shortages in water resources. Indeed, there are conflicts involving the waters of the Jordan, Nile and Ganges Rivers. The scramble to claim water resources is getting under way, as countries try to secure sufficient quantities of water to furnish the food supplies growing populations and changing diets necessitate.<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; border: 3px solid #82c659;\">\n<strong>What is the World Water Forum?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The World Water Forum, held every three years to coincide with World Water Day, March 22nd, is a forum for discussing the grave global issues concerning water. Representatives from governments across the world participate, wielding significant influence over debates about the world\u2019s water problems and associated policy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Water running dry in countries exporting foodstuffs to Japan.<\/h3>\n<p>Since virtual water is not water that can actually be seen, there is no moment where one can watch water running out of the faucet and think \u201cI shouldn\u2019t waste water.\u201d However, there has been a steady increase in the number of world regions where water is overused. It is said that if regions use more than four-tenths of the supply of surface water and groundwater, the stress on water resources becomes high, risking water shortages. According to predictions by researchers at the 2nd World Water Forum, by 2025 over four billion people will live in countries where the level of stress on water resources is high.<br \/>\nFor instance, in northern China and the American Midwest, which provide much of Japan\u2019s agricultural imports, six-tenths of water resources cycling in the environment are being employed, causing significant stress on the system. In the Central Valley of California, drought during recent years has left many farmsteads unable to obtain the necessary water, causing significant unemployment.<\/p>\n<p>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"526\" height=\"282\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/26_06.gif\" alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1235\" \/><\/p>\n<div align=\"right\">\n<p class=\"sTxt\">\nSource:  World Water Council 2nd World Water Forum\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"center\"><strong>NEXT<\/strong>\u3000<a href=\"..\/special26_3\/\">Food in Japan, linked to the world\u2019s water problems. -How the world\u2019s water can be conserved-<\/a><\/p>\n<ul class=\"pPagination\">\n<li class=\"page-numbers\"><a href=\"..\/special26_1\/\">1<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"page-numbers current\">2<\/li>\n<li class=\"page-numbers\"><a href=\"..\/special26_3\/\">3<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Special Issue Home World Hunger Special Issue No.26\u3000\u3000\u30001 Dec. 2009 How Japan\u2019s food is dependent on invisible \u201c&#8230; <a class=\"view-article\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/english\/world-hunger\/special-issue\/special26_2\/\">View Article<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":9,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-special.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1233"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1233"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2070,"href":"https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1233\/revisions\/2070"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hungerfree.net\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}