Water productivity as indicator of crop performance vis-à-vis consumptive use has been around for several decades. In recent years, the Netherlands has lead efforts to institutionalise this indicator as a means to address crop productivity and water utilization, i.e., what each crop is doing with one cubic metre of water (kg/m3). However, water productivity goes beyond biophysical parameters of crop yield. It is also how much money is earned per cubic metre and the amount of jobs and livelihoods the crop production actually sustains. This socio-economic water productivity can be measured by the amount of dollars per cubic metre ($/m3) or the amount of jobs per cubic metre (jobs/m3).
In this Masterclass, we tried to (re)introduce the concept of water productivity as indicator and explain the basic means to monitor water productivity in practice. We provided attendees with a step-by-step approach on how to monitor water productivity, identify challenges, and generate solutions for their own projects. Monitoring at different spatial scales will also be discussed (including at crop level, by irrigation scheme, and in river basins) as well as considerations for both irrigated and rainfed systems. The topics touched upon in this introduction webinar will be covered in greater detail in the rest of the Masterclass series, and we encourage attendees to participate in all of the webinars.
Download Presentations/Videos:
- Introduction to the Water Productivity in Practice project: Lauren Zielenski, IHE-Delft
- Using water productivity as an indicator for agricultural output and water use: Simon Chevalking, MetaMeta
- Monitoring water productivity at different spatial scales: Poolad Karimi, IHE-Delft
- Monitoring biopysical indicators using WaPOR (including a case study in Mozambique): Abebe Demissie, IHE-Delft
- Monitoring socio-economic indicators of water productivity: Petra Hellegers, Wageningen University
