Water risk is the possibility of an entity experiencing a water-related threat, either directly or indirectly. In agricultural supply chains, water risks are mostly related to the sites where the primary products are produced. As a result, it is in the interest of all parts of the supply chain – from retailer to trader to producer- to decrease the water risks associated with production sites.

Companies with global agricultural supply chains experience fundamental challenges in managing water risks. Supply chains are inherently complex as products are sourced from many locations, and each have their own reality in terms of water. To help addressing these challenges, a systematic and practical methodology is proposed to support global companies in effectively understanding and acting on water risks in their agricultural supply chains. The methodology combines a top down global approach to prioritize catchments with a bottom up local approach to validate risk score results obtained for the prioritized catchments and move towards action.

GSI Technical paper 3: Water Risks in Agricultural supply chains - Methodology for catchment prioritization to guide company action