Applying the food-energy-water nexus approach to urban agriculture: From FEW to FEWP (Food-Energy-Water-People)

Caputo, Silvio; Schoen, Victoria; Specht, Kathrin; Grard, Baptiste; Blythe, Chris; Cohen, Nevin; Fox-Kämper, Runrid; Hawes, Jason K.; Newell, Joshua P.; Poniży, Lidia

doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2020.126934

Cited by 53 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 75 publications

(72 reference statements)

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“…The data informing this paper was drawn from research carried out in the summer and early autumn of 2020 in the context of a three-year international research project, called "FEW-meter, " funded under the Sustainable Urbanization Global Initiative (SUGI), a collaboration between the Joint Program Initiative (JPI) Urban Europe and the Belmont Forum. The research aims were to measure urban agriculture's Food-Energy-and Water-(FEW) nexus and social dimensions in five countries (Poland, France, Germany, UK and the US) (Caputo et al, 2021;Kirby et al, 2021) over two growing seasons, and through analysis of this data to identify opportunities to improve the performance of urban farms and gardens. The project also included interviews with urban agriculture policy experts and other stakeholders to understand the effects of different policy environments on the success and growth of urban agriculture.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“We Have Been Part of the Response”: The Effects of COVID-19 on Community and Allotment Gardens in the Global North

Schoen

Blythe

Caputo

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Throughout history, urban agriculture practitioners have adapted to various challenges by continuing to provide food and social benefits. Urban gardens and farms have also responded to sudden political, economic, ecological, and social crises: wartime food shortages; urban disinvestment and property abandonment; earthquakes and floods; climate-change induced weather events; and global economic disruptions. This paper examines the effects on, and responses by, urban farms and gardens to the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper is based on data collected in the summer of 2020 at the onset of the pandemic when cities were struggling with appropriate responses to curb its spread. It builds on an international research project (FEW-meter) that developed a methodology to measure material and social benefits of urban agriculture (UA) in five countries (France, Germany, Poland, UK and USA) over two growing seasons, from a Food-Energy-Water nexus perspective. We surveyed project partners to ascertain the effects of COVID-19 on those gardens and farms and we interviewed policy stakeholders in each country to investigate the wider impacts of the pandemic on UA. We report the results with respect to five key areas: (1) garden accessibility and service provision during the pandemic; (2) adjustments to operational arrangements; (3) effects on production; (4) support for urban farms and gardens through the pandemic; and (5) thoughts about the future of urban agriculture in the recovery period and beyond. The paper shows that the pandemic resulted in multiple challenges to gardens and farms including the loss of ability to provide support services, lost income, and reductions in output because of reduced labor supply. But COVID-19 also created several opportunities: new markets to sell food locally; more time available to gardeners to work in their allotments; and increased community cohesion as neighboring gardeners looked out for one another. By illustrating the range of challenges faced by the pandemic, and strategies to address challenges used by different farms and gardens, the paper illustrates how gardens in this pandemic have adapted to become more resilient and suggests lessons for pandemic recovery and longer-term planning to enable UA to respond to future public health and other crises.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“We Have Been Part of the Response”: The Effects of COVID-19 on Community and Allotment Gardens in the Global North

Schoen

Blythe

Caputo

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…A second challenge consists of calls to analyze UA in the multiple, inter-sectoral dimensions of FEWs (Food, Energy, and Water) and related resource-interaction frameworks. One approach well-suited to UA has positioned the role of people ("P") at the center of FEW analysis (FEWP; Caputo et al, 2020). This approach and others can be incorporated into UA research challenges in specific regional or national-level FEW frameworks (e.g., sub-Saharan Africa; Chirisa and Bandauko, 2015).…”

Section: Determine Governance Relations To Ua Social and Ecological Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grand Challenges in Urban Agriculture: Ecological and Social Approaches to Transformative Sustainability

Zimmerer

Bell

Chirisa

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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“…Artioli et al [68] identified potential trade-offs and complementarities between interdependent water, energy and food systems for urban governance. The nexus concept is applied in urban agriculture (UA), also considering social dimesions and people's behavior in terms of resource utilization in addition to food, energy, and water [69]. LCA and MFA are the keys for establishing connection with the key factors.…”

Section: Towards Nexus and Integrated Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Circularity in the Management of Municipal Solid Waste – A Systematic Review

Khatiwada

Golzar

Mainali

et al. 2021

Environmental and Climate Technologies

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Municipal solid waste (MSW) management has emerged as one of the major environmental challenges globally. The consequences of inappropriate waste management are manifold and the trend would continue if immediate interventions are not taken for its reversion amid rapid urbanization and current consumption patterns of individuals. The concept of circular economy (CE) can contribute to a paradigm shift in the transformation of the traditional linear approach that does not favour reuse, recycle, recovery concept. Modern and proven waste management practices with collection systems, recycling facilities, sanitary landfills, and waste-to-energy (WtE) and nutrient recovery offer opportunities to improve urban environment through the valorization of waste and by-products in a CE. This study scrutinizes the existing literature on the assessment of circularity and helps to develop a unified circularity framework in the management of MSW in cities. Key aspects such as tools for measuring circularity, nexus and trade-offs, and conditions in promoting CE are discussed. Finally, this paper elucidates the need for circularity, including enablers and inhibitors for promoting circularity in the management of MSW with a case study in the city of Curitiba, Brazil.

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Applying the food-energy-water nexus approach to urban agriculture: From FEW to FEWP (Food-Energy-Water-People)

Cited by 53 publications

References 75 publications

“We Have Been Part of the Response”: The Effects of COVID-19 on Community and Allotment Gardens in the Global North

“We Have Been Part of the Response”: The Effects of COVID-19 on Community and Allotment Gardens in the Global North

Grand Challenges in Urban Agriculture: Ecological and Social Approaches to Transformative Sustainability

Circularity in the Management of Municipal Solid Waste – A Systematic Review

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