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04 April 2019 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo JohanRoux
Prof Chapagain  Inaugural
Prof Ashok Chapagain, Senior Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, recently delivered his inaugural lecture on the university’s Bloemfontein Campus. The title of his lecture was Counting Water: Simple yet Complex. From the left are: Dr Engela van Staden, Vice-Rector: Academic; Prof Ashok, Dr Frikkie Maré, Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics; and Prof Danie Vermeulen, Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences.

Virtually every economic sector, from agriculture, power generation, manufacturing, beverage, and apparel to tourism, relies on fresh water to sustain its business. Yet, water scarcity and water-pollution levels in river basins around the world are increasing due to growing populations, changing consumption patterns, and poor water governance.

These are the words of Prof Ashok Chapagain, Senior Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of the Free State (UFS), who recently delivered his inaugural lecture on the university’s Bloemfontein Campus. The title of his lecture was Counting Water: Simple yet Complex.

He believes that in a world of increasing interconnectedness, equitable and sustainable resource management has become not only a local phenomenon, but also a global one. “The critical factors in managing these resources lie at both ends of the production and consumption chains. The interlinkages between agriculture, trade, economic, and energy policy and water-resources management must be understood,” he said.

Water footprint from farm to cup

The water footprint of a product is the volume of fresh water used to produce the product, measured over the various steps of the production chain. Water use is measured in terms of water volumes consumed or polluted, e.g. a cup of black coffee would take 140 litres of water as a result of water used in various processes, from the farm to the cup! 

Prof Chapagain said: “With the emergence of the water footprint concept, the public could for the first time see that the issue is not only related to direct water use in their houses, but also to their consumption of goods and services, such as food, fibre, and electricity. For example, a developed nation would typically state their water consumption data as around 100-200 litres per capita per day. This information is misleading, as it does not capture the massive amount of water needed to produce food, goods, and services consumed by the nation, which makes the daily water consumption a whopping 3 000-8 000 litres in these developed nations. Consumers, governments, and businesses are beginning to understand how their interests could be sustained in the long run, using this new approach to water-resource management.”

He also spoke about water as an economic enabler. According to him, harnessing the full benefit of water is constrained by three limits: hydrological limits, limits in production efficiency, limits and risks in externalising water footprints. He further elaborated, “Each river basin is unique with respect to amount of rainfall and pattern, rainfall-runoff relation, total available runoff, environmental flow requirements, groundwater recharge, etc. The actual available quantity of water is determined by all these parameters. Hence, there is a hydrological limit to water use in a river basin/aquifers”. He said: “On the other hand, making a process more efficient comes at a price, marking a limit on local efficiency gains. Similarly, importing virtual water to relieve pressure on local water resources would require second-order resources such as foreign currency, and a political will to move from a ‘water and food self-sufficiency’ policy towards a ‘water and food security’ policy. Enhancing the global water-use efficiency by means of trade has socio-economic limitations.” His current research focuses on unravelling these limits to growth, and on developing a generic analytical framework to find optimal solutions to growth under these water limits.

Trade can relieve the strain

Regarding the latter, he said trade in water-intensive goods and services could help relieve the strain on local/national water resources. For example, Switzerland covers merely 18% of its water demand from its internal water resources, i.e. 82% of it is external! South Africa’s external water footprint is only 22% of the total water footprint of national consumption. Hence, the scope of international trade to help alleviate local scarcity is limited by the availability of second-order resources such as foreign exchange, institutional capacity, socio-political context, etc. 

However, globalisation of fresh water brings both risks and opportunities. “Although national water resources could be saved for best alternative uses, the risks of a growing external dependency and the associated risks related to events elsewhere, are often not visible. These water-intensive production processes are vulnerable to the availability of water at the various locations where the production processes take place. The vulnerabilities may result from a range of factors – from reduced river flows, lowered lake levels, and declined ground-water tables to increased salt intrusion in coastal areas, pollution of freshwater bodies, droughts, and a changing climate,” he said.

Water footprint assessment

Prof Chapagain also touched on the Water Footprint Assessment; he believes it has provided a sound method to analyse the water footprint in the relevant context and formulate appropriate response strategies. “The water-footprint assessment breaks down the different water-footprint components and checks the sustainability of these components against three sets of criteria: environmental, economic, and social. The application of the Water Footprint Assessment has evolved from basic quantitative studies to a powerful advocacy tool that can support decision-making and policy processes and help mitigate water-related business risk.

“Counting water drops is simple, yet unravelling the underlying complexities is the key! I count on you to start by counting water drops in counting for sustainable growth,” he concluded.

News Archive

Future Leader’s Award 2017 goes to UFS Quantity Surveying student
2017-08-11

Description: Future Leader’s Award 2017 goes to UFS Quantity Surveying student Tags: Future Leader’s Award 2017 goes to UFS Quantity Surveying student 

Celebrating big achievements in the construction
sector at the recent Association of South African
Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS) conference are, from
the left: Cameron Ferreira, junior lecturer in the
UFS Department of Quantity Surveying,
Jhon Thatcher, former UFS student in the same
department who was the second runner-up for the
Gold Medal Award, Dr Stephan Ramabodu, President
of ASAQS, Gerné Bothma, former student in the
department and winner of the Future Leaders’
Award 2017, and Pierre Oosthuizen, UFS lecturer in
the same department.
Photos: Supplied


The Department of Quantity Surveying and Construction Management at the University of the Free State (UFS) made good on its promise to develop independent and critical-thinking graduates who will become leaders in their field. At the recent Association of South African Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS) conference and gala dinner, two students from the department, Gerné Botma and Jhon Thatcher, received awards for their outstanding performance.

Best of the best
Botma received the ASAQS Future Leaders’ Award (2017), an award based on academic achievement in the first three years of study. He competed with nominees from universities across South Africa offering Quantity Surveying programmes, and was the winner in this category.

Thatcher was a second runner-up for the ASAQS Gold Medal Award (being in the top three Quantity Surveying students in South Africa). This is awarded on a number of criteria, including academic achievement. Fourth-year students from all the universities in South Africa offering Quantity Surveying programmes compete for this award, and must display achievement in categories such as academia, leadership, community engagement, and general interests.  In 2016, the Gold Medal Award was won by the UFS student, Kamogelo Leeuw.

Keeping abreast of developments
Today, organisations are relying on its members to stay ahead of issues, technologies, innovations and trends. In Quantity Surveying, to keep abreast of developments in the built environment, ASAQS was established as a voluntary association, with one of its goals being advancing and promoting the science and practice of Quantity Surveying.  ASAQS works in close collaboration with its member firms, tertiary institutions, and the South African Council for Quantity Surveying Professions (SACQSP), a statutory body that oversees and regulates the profession, and accredit Quantity Surveying programmes in South Africa.

Two staff members from the UFS Department of Quantity Surveying and Construction Management, Cameron Ferreira and Pierre Oosthuizen, attended the recent ASAQS annual conference. Ferreira, a junior lecturer in the department, is the current Chapter Chairperson of the Free State for ASAQS and Oosthuizen, a lecturer in the department, is the former Chapter Chairperson.

According to Ferreira, they attended the conference to keep abreast of the latest development within the industry. “The event also served as a great networking opportunity for the UFS to build partnerships with other industry pioneers,” she said. Making use of opportunities such as these is in line with the UFS’s pursuit of lifelong learning.

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