Selected publications on the water footprint of meat & dairy
Most cited
Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2012) A global assessment of the water footprint of farm animal products, Ecosystems, 15(3): 401-415. PDF
Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2010) The green, blue and grey water footprint of farm animals and animal products, Value of Water Research Report Series No. 48, UNESCO-IHE, Delft, the Netherlands. Vol.1 PDF Vol.2 PDF
Data on the water footprint of different animal products, per country and per production system: XLS
Introductory publications
Hoekstra, A.Y. (2020) The Water Footprint of Modern Consumer Society: Second edition, Routledge, London, UK. Info
Hoekstra, A.Y. (2017) The water footprint of animal products. In: D'Silva, J. and Webster, J. (eds.) The meat crisis: Developing more sustainable and ethical production and consumption, Second edition, Routledge, London, UK, pp. 21-30. request copy BUY BOOK
Legesse, G., Ominski, K.H., Beauchemin, K.A., Pfister, S., Martel, M., McGeough, E.J., Hoekstra, A.Y., Kroebel, R., Cordeiro, M. and McAllister, T.A. (2017) Quantifying water use in ruminant production, Journal of Animal Science, 95(5): 2001-2018. PDF
Hoekstra, A.Y. (2015) The meat eater, a big water user. In: Soeters, K. (ed.) Meat the future: How cutting meat consumption can feed billions more, Nicolaas G. Pierson Foundation, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, pp. 87-99. request copy Traduction française: Le carnivore, ce grand consommateur d’eau PDF Deutsche Übersetzung: Der Fleischesser, ein großer Wasserverbraucher PDF
Hoekstra, A.Y. (2014) Water for animal products: a blind spot in water policy, Environmental Research Letters, 9(9): 091003. PDF
Hoekstra, A.Y. (2012) The hidden water resource use behind meat and dairy, Animal Frontiers, 2(2): 3-8. PDF
Hoekstra, A.Y. (2010) The water footprint of animal products. In: D'Silva, J. and Webster, J. (eds.) The meat crisis: Developing more sustainable production and consumption, Earthscan, London, UK, pp. 22-33.
Hoekstra, A.Y. (2008) The water footprint of food. In: Förare, J. (ed.) Water for food, The Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (Formas), Stockholm, Sweden, pp. 49-60. PDF
Hoekstra, A.Y. (2007) Water footprints: the water needs of people in relation to their consumption pattern. In: Trimble, S.W. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Water Science, Taylor & Francis, New York, NY, USA. PDF
Meat & dairy consumption in global context
Hoekstra, A.Y. and Mekonnen, M.M. (2012) The water footprint of humanity, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(9): 3232–3237. PDF
Chapagain, A.K. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2008) The global component of freshwater demand and supply: An assessment of virtual water flows between nations as a result of trade in agricultural and industrial products, Water International, 33(1): 19-32. PDF
Hoekstra, A.Y. and Chapagain, A.K. (2007) Water footprints of nations: water use by people as a function of their consumption pattern, Water Resources Management, 21(1): 35-48. PDF
Chapagain, A.K. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2004) Water footprints of nations, Value of Water Research Report Series No.16, UNESCO-IHE, Delft, the Netherlands. Vol.1 PDF Vol.2 PDF
Chapagain, A.K. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2003) Virtual water flows between nations in relation to international trade in livestock and livestock products, Value of Water Research Report Series No.13, UNESCO-IHE, Delft, the Netherlands. PDF
Water footprint of changing diets
Kim, B.F., Santo, R.E., Scatterday, A.P., Fry, J.P., Synk, C.M., Cebron, S.R., Mekonnen, M.M., Hoekstra, A.Y., De Pee, S., Bloem, M.W., Neff, R.A. and Nachman, K.E. (2019) Country-specific dietary shifts to mitigate climate and water crises, Global Environmental Change, forthcoming. LINK PDF
Ercin, A.E. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2016) European water footprint scenarios for 2050, Water, 8(6): 226. PDF
Ercin, A.E. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2014) Water footprint scenarios for 2050: A global analysis, Environment International, 64: 71-82. PDF
Vanham, D., Hoekstra, A.Y. and Bidoglio, G. (2013) Potential water saving through changes in European diets, Environment International, 61: 45-56. PDF
Vanham, D. Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2013) The water footprint of the EU for different diets, Ecological Indicators, 32: 1-8. PDF
Ercin, A.E., Aldaya, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2012) The water footprint of soy milk and soy burger and equivalent animal products, Ecological Indicators, 18: 392-402. PDF
Country case studies
Zhuo, L., Liu, Y., Yang, H., Hoekstra, A.Y., Liu, W., Cao, X., Wang, M., Wu, P. (2019) Water for maize for pigs for pork: An analysis of inter-provincial trade in China, Water Research, 166: 115074. LINK PDF
Mekonnen, M.M., Neale, C.M.U., Ray, C., Erickson, G.E., Hoekstra, A.Y. (2019) Water productivity in meat and milk production in the US from 1960 to 2016, Environment International, 132: 105084. LINK PDF
Ibidhi, R., Hoekstra A.Y., Gerbens-Leenes P.W. and Chouchane, H. (2017) Water, land and carbon footprints of sheep and chicken meat produced in Tunisia under different farming systems, Ecological Indicators, 77: 304-313. PDF
Bosire, C.K., Lannerstad, M., De Leeuw, J., Krol, M.S., Ogutu, J.O., Ochungo, P.A. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2017) Urban consumption of meat and milk and its green and blue water footprints: Patterns in the 1980s and 2000s for Nairobi, Kenya, Science of the Total Environment, 579: 786–796. PDF
Bosire, C.K., Ogutu, J.O., Said, M.Y., Krol, M.S., De Leeuw, J. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2015) Trends and spatial variation in water and land footprints of meat and milk production systems in Kenya, Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 205: 36-47. PDF
De Miguel, A., Hoekstra, A.Y. and García-Calvo, E. (2015) Sustainability of the water footprint of the Spanish pork industry, Ecological Indicators, 57: 465-474. PDF
Hoekstra, A.Y. (2015) The water footprint: The relation between human consumption and water use. In: Antonelli M. and Greco F. (eds.) The water we eat: Combining virtual water and water footprints, Springer, Cham, Switzerland, pp. 35-48. PDF BUY BOOK
Hoekstra, A.Y. (2013) L’impronta idrica: uno strumento per mettere in relazione i nostri consumi con l’uso dell’acqua. In: Antonelli M., and Greco F. (eds.) L’acqua che mangiamo: Cos’è l’acqua virtuale e come la consumiamo, Edizioni Ambiente, Milan, Italy, pp. 57-71. PDF
Ercin, A.E., Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2013) Sustainability of national consumption from a water resources perspective: The case study for France, Ecological Economics, 88: 133-147. PDF
Gerbens-Leenes, P.W., Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2013) The water footprint of poultry, pork and beef: A comparative study in different countries and production systems, Water Resources and Industry, 1-2: 25-36. PDF
Ercin, A.E., Mekonnen, M.M and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2012) The water footprint of Switzerland, Value of Water Research Report Series No. 57, UNESCO-IHE, Delft, the Netherlands. PDF
Water footprint of fish
Pahlow, M., Van Oel, P.R., Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2015) Increasing pressure on freshwater resources due to terrestrial feed ingredients for aquaculture production, Science of the Total Environment, 536: 847–857. PDF
Magazine / newspaper articles
Hoekstra, A.Y. (2014) To save water, change your diet, New York Times, The Opinion Pages: Room for Debate, published 29 June 2014. link
Hoekstra, A.Y. (2011) Understanding the water footprint of factory farming, Farm Animal Voice, 180: 14-15. PDF
Hoekstra, A.Y. (2010) The water footprint: the hidden cost of our meat consumption, blog at The Ecologist link
Hoekstra, A.Y. (2010) Impronta idrica, Slow Food, 45: 50-53. PDF