Transcript Document

WASTE-WATER IRRIGATION &
FOOD SAFETY
RECOGNITION, REGULATION AND RISK.
FIONA MARSHALL, SPRU, UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX
Peri-Urban Agriculture
Small holder farmers (> 50% landless or < 1ha land)
Grain crops for home consumption, but also vital for supply of
perishable vegetables to cities e.g. 77% spinach (D), 43%
aubergine (V)
70-90% households involved in agriculture and 25-60% household
income
Very little formal support accessed
Highly dynamic transition zone, rapid environmental degradation
worsening levels of discrimination & changing health concerns.
Contaminated irrigation
water and food safety
for the urban and periurban poor: in India and
Zambia
Project funded by UK
DFID
Social
Technological and
Environmental
Pathways to
Sustainability
Areas to address
To use a case study of wastewater use linked to
food safety concerns in India to illustrate:
• The link between environmental pollutionwastewater irrigation-food safety &livelihoods.
• Areas of oversight in formal policy and
planning
• The role of regulation
• Does regulation reduce risk?
• Some Immediate priorities
Case study on wastewater use and
food safety in India – as systems
perspective
• Assess heavy metal contamination of vegetables in
Varanasi and implications for health & livelihoods.
• Investigate relationships between crop
contamination, wastewater irrigation and industrial
pollution sources.
• Work with local stakeholders to explore current
practices, concerns, perceptions, adaptation, actions.
• Determine practical measures to ameliorate impacts
of heavy metal pollution on food safety.
• Engage with institutional and policy processes to
identify opportunities towards alternative (more
Sustainable) management approaches.
Assessing heavy metal
contamination
Wide range of crops grown around Delhi and
Varanasi have been tested for contamination
Including - Bhindi, Palak, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Wheat,
Tomato, Brinjal, Radish, Pumpkin, Wheat, Amaranthus
Heavy metals
Cadmium, Zinc, Nickel, Manganese, Copper, Lead,
Chromium
Heavy metal contamination in the food basket of
peri-urban communities – levels far in exceedence of
‘safe’ permissible limits.
mg/kg
Mean concentration of cadm ium in crops at D6 site,
Dinapur (Mar 05 - Feb 06)
0.90
0.80
0.70
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
European Union standard
A maranthus
B rinjal
Lauki
P alak
To mato
P arwal
Cabbage
Radish
Ko handa
Cauliflo wer
Nenua
B hindi
Wheat
Karela
P umpkin
Lead contamination exceeds standards
(many fold) at wastewater irrigated sites
Lead concentration in Palak at different sites in different seasons
35.0
Indian standard
30.0
concentration in microgramme per gramme
European Union standard
25.0
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
0.0
D2, Dec 2003
D2, Jan 2004
D3, Dec 2003
D3, Jan 2004
S2, Dec 2003
S2, Jan 2004
S2, Apr 2004
L1, Apr 2004
L4, Aug 2003
L4, Dec 2003
L4, Apr 2004
High levels of heavy metals in a range of crops
were directly linked to irrigation with wastewater
(as opposed to other possible sources.
Cadmium concentration in Palak at clean and wastewater
irrigated sites at Dinapur and Lohta, Varanasi
7
6
EU standard
Indian standard
mg/kg
5
4
3
2
1
0
Dinapur w astew ater Dinapur clean w ater
Lohta w astew ater
Lohta clean w ater
There are a range of potential
technical interventions
• Find effective means of tackling pollution at source
e.g. additional effluent treatment or bioremediation.
BUT no simple relationship between levels in water and
levels in crops. Location, crop and practice specific.
• Ameliorate the impacts of using polluted water
sources.
e.g. soil treatments, Fertiliser regimes, specific cultivars,
Low cost monitoring, farmer support mechanisms
Policy fields related to
wastewater irrigation
in peri-urban areas
Farmers
Health &
Nutrition
Policy
Consumers
Livelihood
Environment
Policy
Contaminated Crop
Industrial
Pollution
Food Safety
Policy
Effluent/
sewage
Industrial
zoning
Irrigation
water
Agricultural
Practices
Urbanisation
Urban
Planning
Contaminated
soil
Irrigation
Management
Water
Policy
Agricultural
Policy
Key gaps in formal recognition
• Wastewater not officially recognized as a source of
irrigation water.
• No formal recognition of the link between industrial
pollution and food safety – and particular threat to the
poor.
• No irrigation water quality standard for heavy metals
in India and many other countries.
• No priority given in food safety policy to the
monitoring of fresh produce important to the poor.
Regulatory Approaches
Following formal recognition…
• Standards for heavy metals in irrigation water
– But levels in water don’t necessarily reflect levels in crops
– Existing monitoring programme overstretched
– Complexities of multiple sources etc for polluter pays
• Amend and enforce standards for fresh produce
- Contamination an invisible credence property that often
requires regulation.
-But likely to adversely affect poor producers and
consumers.
-Shortfalls of new food safety authority.
Need a framework for management of wastewater (industrial, domestic,
treated/untreated, partially treated) within the broader framework of
water management, environmental pollution and food safety and
security strategies.
Does regulation reduce risk?
How inclusive are regulatory ‘framings’ of experience
and concerns of poorer communities?
Regulation can reinforce
technological pathways.
or
hinder
particular
Should emphasis be on controlling known risks, or
developing resource management strategies capable
of
adapting
to
change
whilst
preserving
environmental integrity and social justice?
Towards Sustainable waste-water
management
• Develop means to incorporate user practices,
concerns and aspirations, in all their diversity, in
decision making.
• Actor oriented approaches that recognise the role of
power and politics – beyond ‘supply’
• Integrating mechanisms needed i) across disciplines
and sectors and ii) across research and policy
• From food chains to systems perspectives (socioecological/technical)• Build on successes in participatory approaches in
water management and tools for social appraisal.
Some recommendation from our
Indian case study
• Formal recognition of wastewater irrigation is
essential
• Urgent action needed to ameliorate impacts of heavy
metal contamination of crops in badly affected areas
whilst longer term strategies emerge.
• Need for comprehensive status report on wastewater
irrigation (extent, livelihood opportunities and threats,
health links – different perspectives)
• Formal recognition and awareness raising of link with
industrial pollution & food safety required - but in
context of other opportunities and threats of
wastewater reuse.
• Establish multistakeholder platforms and innovative
approaches to illucidate appropriate technological
choices and pathways to Sustainable water
management.
Social
Technological and
Environmental
Pathways to
Sustainability
Thank You!
Fiona Marshall
Science and Technology Policy Research
University of Sussex
Email: [email protected]