Virtual Water

Virtual water concept is a new water management tool for improving agricultural water use and decreasing food gap in countries. The concept of virtual water was applied to five Nile countries in this study. An optimization model is developed for the selection of cropping patterns distribution in the selected countries that minimize food gap without violating the existing limitation of available water and land resources. Four cases of scenarios were developed; the first is based on the assumption that an integrated agricultural planning for the five studied countries maybe developed and implemented. The second deals with each country individually. The third assumes that an integrated agricultural planning for Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan is applied. The fourth is based on the assumption of integrated agricultural planning for Egypt and Sudan only. The results of scenarios showed that the total food gap can be reduced. The food gap decreased in each country, and some countries achieved a surplus. One of the main results of these scenarios is the improvement of the inter - trade.