Paper short abstract:

Virtual water "trade" literature has provided an understanding of the global water crisis at the global level but literature regarding small-scale dynamics is still missing. A re-conjunction of virtual water literature with the political ecology tradition is here attempted.

Paper long abstract:

The literature on virtual water "trade" reflects the food trade dynamics in terms of water susinability and water "paradoxes" ( Hoeksta 2013) . Where water is pumped from water-scarce environments and sold abroad to affluent countries, the water-scarcity virtual water export is verified. Virtual Water Hegemony verifies where big agro-business companies have the power to decide water irrigation dynamics. This concept will be tested at a local scale.

This paper presents the case of a "bad virtual water" case, in Sicily, where not only water is pumped from a vulnterable aquifer for the benefit of the "made in Italy" agricultural business, but also local communities and farmers have a negative outcome out of the crop trade of tomatoes.

The Tomatoes from Pachino, sold all over Italy and abroad, are grown in a Climatic Hot Spot, subject to climatic extremes ; perception of water quality and quantity has been investigated through face-to-face interviews with farmers and key stakeholders. At the same time, monitoring of the aquifer was discountinued as soon as the Water Framework Directive was enforced in Sicily for Groundwater Monitoring because the aquifer was not among the "aquifers of interest" of the region.

Private sector , intermediaries and the mafia are extracting the most of the profits out of the tomato business, leaving the local environment and the community with a situation of vulnerability and extreme fragility.

The concept of Virtual Water Hegemony will be tested for this apparently insignificant and small scale case of study.