ABSTRACT
Farzad Taheripour, Thomas W. Hertel, Badri Narayanan Gopalakrishnan, Sebnem Sahin, Anil Markandya, and Bijon Kumer Mitra contribute a chapter on “Climate change and water scarcity: growing risks for agricultural based economies in South Asia.” Here, Taheripour, Hertel, Gopalakrishnan, Sahin, Markandya, and Mitra evaluate economic and environmental consequences of climate change and water scarcity on South Asian economies. The authors implement a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model using biophysical data on climate-induced crop yield changes, water scarcity measures, and land and water resources by Agro-Ecological Zone (AEZ) at the river basin level. They find that even when water supply for irrigation is not limited, climate-induced crop yield changes could generate negative economy-wide impacts and reduce food security across South Asia. Taheripour et al. then examine the combined impacts of the effects of climate-induced crop yield changes and water scarcity on the economies of South Asia, finding that water scarcity, induced by expansion in water demand in non-agricultural uses and lack of water infrastructure, will block the demand for irrigation, generating severe negative economic impacts, badly affecting food production and security, extending food imports and causing major land use changes in South Asia.
