Ensuring health and food safety from rapidly expanding wastewater irrigation in South Asia
This project aims to identify the risks and benefits associated with the use of wastewater in urban and peri-urban fodder and vegetable cropping systems in India and Pakistan, where wastewater is largely untreated due to lack of public finance. Two mega-cities (Faisalabad, Pakistan and Hyderabad, India, with large untreated wastewater irrigation areas have been selected a) for comparative purposes and b) to develop and promote country-specific risk mitigation options. With a particular focus on food safety, livelihoods and livestock, the research will combine field and laboratory methods and structured interactions with producers, consumers, and authorities (urban planning, public health and water management).