A Foucauldian Analysis of "Virtual Water "Concept in Terms of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security

Water that is used in various stages for the production of agricultural products as well asindustry is called virtual water. The importance of virtual water has increased widelyworldwide. Recently, virtual water trade has been introduced as a tool to solve the water scarcityof dry regions. The concept holds that water-rich countries and regions should produce andexport water-intensive commodities to water-scarce countries and regions. Sustainableagriculture is a type of agriculture that is in the interests of human beings and is more efficientin using resources and is also in balance with the environment. Virtual water plays an importantrole in sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture is one of the important pillars of accessto food security and its maintenance based on maintaining environmental sustainability. Foodsecurity is one of the criteria of human development and achieving it is one of the main goalsof every country. Virtual water trade and food security have a direct relationship. waterresources situation in Iran is not in a good condition and in a near future providing food securitywill be faced with problems if not any solution be implemented. Food imports in Iran are notyet done for the purpose of virtual water trade. In this situation, by using new patterns to assessthe country's position in terms of comparative advantage in the production of agriculturalproducts and change food import and export policies in accordance with the principles of foodsecurity, the benefits can be invested in other sectors and deal with the water crisis in thecountry.

کلیدواژه ها:

Virtual water ، Virtual water trade ، Sustainable agriculture ، Food security