Prominent Influence of Socioeconomic and Governance Factors on the Food‐Energy‐Water Nexus in sub‐Saharan Africa

Abstract

Food, energy, and water (FEW) are primary resources required for human populations and ecosystems. Availability of the raw resources is essential, but equally important are the services that deliver resources to human populations, such as adequate access to safe drinking water, electricity, and sufficient food. Any failures in either resource availability or FEW resources-related services will have an impact on human health. The ability of countries to intervene and overcome the challenges in the FEW domain depends on governance, education, and economic capacities. We distinguish between FEW resources, FEW services, and FEW health outcomes to develop an analysis framework for evaluating interrelationships among these critical resources. The framework is applied using a data-driven approach for sub-Saharan African countries, a region with notable FEW insecurity challenges. The data-driven approach using a cross-validated stepwise regression analysis indicates that limited governance and socioeconomic capacity in sub-Saharan African countries, rather than lack of the primary resources, more significantly impact access to FEW services and associated health outcomes. The proposed framework helps develop a cohesive approach for evaluating FEW metrics and could be applied to other regions of the world to continue improving our understanding of the FEW nexus.

Localize the Impact of Global Greenhouse Gases Emissions under an Uncertain Future: A Case Study in Western Cape, South Africa

“…In the meantime, local government should explore interventions that promote and proactively encourage behavioral change and address inequity regarding water rights [35]. Finally, we have to emphasize the importance of governance across all administrative levels [36], because all policies and measures against climate change and improving the livelihoods of the people that could last and be effective rely on proper governance.…”

An Integrated Food, Energy, and Water Nexus, Human Well-Being, and Resilience (FEW-WISE) Framework: New Mexico

“…As it is important to provide an improved understanding of the functionality of individual components of FEW systems, it is also critical to have an elaborate characterization of the interconnections and behavior of these systems as a nexus as they evolve and transform these climatic and socioeconomic setbacks (Grafton et al, 2017;Rosa et al, 2017;Scanlon et al, 2017;D'Odorico et al, 2018;Nhamo et al, 2018;Rosa et al, 2018). These interconnections are among the most important ones of nature that are essential for human well-being (IRENA, 2015;EIA, 2018;Nhamo et al, 2018;Ding et al, 2019). A distinct framework is required to investigate FEW system dynamics and assess the resilience of such coupled natural-human systems (Carpenter et al, 2001;Gunderson and Holling, 2001;Holling, 2001;Folke, 2006).…”

“…The nexus concept can be defined as an integrated systems approach to qualitatively describe and identify interconnected subsystems and to quantitatively account for their functionality and resource availability, enhance their synergistic use, and minimize tradeoffs with the main goal of sustaining the well-being of human societies and resilience of FEW systems. The concept has been explored to promote effective management of FEW resources qualitatively and quantitatively (Hoff, 2011;Fischer et al, 2015;Keairns et al, 2016;Scanlon et al, 2017), for example, to assess the effects of irrigation practices on water resources (de Vito et al, 2017;Cai et al, 2018), assess human livelihood under climate and socioeconomic impacts (Ding et al, 2019), and integrate FEW and human systems to promote environmental security and sustainability (Biggs et al, 2014;Biggs et al, 2015;de Grenade et al, 2016).…”

Integrated water resources management : A systems perspective of water governance and hydrological conditions

“…In the effort to implement IWRM for the Awash Basin, meticulous identification and prioritization of the key influencing and contributing areas and sectors within national programs and planning processes is, therefore, essential. Water, energy and food are profoundly considered as the primary and central of the diverse resources systems and intervention areas for human development, while ecosystems are the sources of all (Ding et al, 2019;Claudia Pahl-Wostl, 2019). Likewise, it might be essential for the Awash Basin's IWRM configuration that the range of departments and institutions that administer, use or pollute, and manage water resources are categorized into the WEFE sectors for a focused and effective management planning.…”

“…Water, energy and food are generally identified as the primary and central sectors for human development and ecosystems health (Ding, Gunda, & Hornberger, 2019;Claudia Pahl-Wostl, 2019).The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus perspective is aimed at recognizing that the three sectors are interlinked in critical ways, and that issues need to be addressed in an integrated manner (Hoff, 2011). The WEF nexus has been promoted as a flexible perspective to deal with the sector interdependencies and enhance cross sectoral coordination on policy planning (Leck, Conway, Bradshaw, & Rees, 2015;Claudia Pahl-Wostl, 2019;Yillia, 2016).…”