Water footprint of agri-food product chains in the Cuneo province, in Italy.

Water, being both a fundamental and limited global resource, requires a specific estimation of its demand because of its direct dependance on population growth and dietary shift. The direct relationship between water availability and climate change highlights that less water is present in vast geographical areas, including Western Europe. Therefore, a quantification of its flows in all the flows in all fields is imperative. In Italy, Cuneo, province in the region of Piemonte, has a significant impact in both rural and industrial life, striving to include sustainability as one of the fundamental principles within the agri-food industry. Thus, the aim of the present thesis is to quantify the water that is used to supply the agri-food product chain in Cuneo. The project was divided into two main parts. The first one examined literature studies about the role of water considered under a global outlook, including theoretical studies on how essential water is in all stages of human life, analyzed and broken down to a local level. The second part contained in-depth analysis on how fundamental water is for the agri-food system based on literature studies and analyses of the regional statistical report. A descriptive study of the life cycle of three main cattle, assessed and compared with global averaged values, showed the total amount of water needed for a single head and for the whole herd in the province. Differences between dairy and meat cattle concerning water services mostly consisted of the prevalent impact of the nutritional requirements, accounting for more than 90% of the final water estimate. Previous estimations were in line with the presented descriptive analysis. Specifically, when considering the water quantities required for each individual animal across species, a relationship between animal size and water requirement was observed. The result remained consistent when comparing the weight of all the animals of different species, with a percentage of 0,04% for poultries, 87% for cattle and remaining 12% for swine. Absence of current regulations on water waste in small community farms was relevant for the purposes of local water consumption for individual provinces. Similarly, lack of guidelines related to the feedstock daily nourishment was one of the most problematic obstacles for local infrastructures, thereby warranting future action.