Assessing the Cost of Supplying Water for Agriculture: The Food Supply Cost Curve

Abstract

As part of a “Regional Initiative on Water Scarcity in the NENA Region”, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been proposing a practical tool for the assessment of investment projects, called the Food Supply Cost Curve (FSCC). This chapter illustrates the concept of the Food Supply Cost Curve, and which steps need to be taken to practically implement an FSCC evaluation exercise. It concludes by commenting on some preliminary findings obtained at the FAO when the FSCC has been employed in some countries in the Near East and North Africa.