Water Security Status in Saudi Arabia: A Threat for Food Security (2000-2014)

摘要

Provoked by the threatening situation of water scarcity, this paper aimed at analyzing the current situation of supply and demand for water in Saudi Arabia. The analysis depends on data from, Statistics of Ministry of Economics and Planning, Ministry Water and Electricity in Saudi Arabia, various issues of Statistical Year Book of the Central Department of Statistics and Information and FAO statistics. The authors employed descriptive statistics for analyzing the supply and demand for water in Saudi Arabia during the period 2000-2014. Water scarcity index was estimated for the study period. Regression analysis was employed for estimating the supply and demand functions for water during the period 2000-2014. Results obtained indicated that the increase in total supply of water may be attributed to the increase of, desalinated water, treated sewage water, and treated agricultural drainage water. Based on results, the highest water consuming sector is the agricultural sector as compared to municipal and industry sectors. Results indicated that demand for water is positively affected by the harvested area, population size and number of industries; however a negative relationship between demand for water and per capita gross domestic product is detected. Regarding supply of water, results obtained indicated that the supply of water is positively influenced by the production of desalinated water and the storage capacity of dams. However, a negative relationship between supply of water and the cost of production of desalinated water is observed. Results on per capita supply and demand for water, proved the threatening current and future situations of water security and food security in Saudi Arabia. This results, is confirmed further by high values of water scarcity index. Results on total harvested area and wheat production indicated negative trends during the study period, attributable to the risks associated with water scarcity.