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 peri-
urban 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 pollution-
wastewater 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.

Mean concentration of cadm ium in crops at D6 site,

Dinapur (Mar 05 - Feb 06)
0.90
0.80 European Union standard
0.70
0.60
mg/kg

0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
Am a ra nthus P a la k C a bba ge C a uliflo we r Whe a t
B rinja l To m a to R a dis h Ne nua Ka re la
La uki P a rwa l Ko ha nda B hindi P um pkin
 Lead contamination exceeds standards
(many fold) at wastewater irrigated sites
Lead concentration in Palak at different sites in different seasons

35.0

30.0 Indian standard

European Union standard

25.0
concentration in microgramme per gramme

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 EU standard
Indian standard
6
5
4
mg/kg

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

Consumers Health &

Nutrition
Livelihood Policy

Environment
Policy

Industrial Contaminated Crop

Pollution
Food Safety
Effluent/
sewage
Policy
Irrigation
Industrial water Contaminated
zoning soil

Urbanisation Agricultural
Practices
Urban
Planning Irrigation
Agricultural
Management
Policy

Water
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 or hinder particular

technological pathways.

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 (socio-
ecological/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: F.Marshall@sussex.ac.uk