The Water-Energy-Food Nexus: Climate Risks and Opportunities in Southern Africa

Nhamo, Luxon; Ndlela, Bekithemba; Nhemachena, Charles; Mabhaudhi, Tafadzwanashe; Mpandeli, Sylvester; Matchaya, Greenwell

doi:10.3390/w10050567

Cited by 140 publications

(167 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The SADC's RAP also prioritises energy availability for irrigation, adding an interesting section that stresses the significance of the region's shared water resources and the establishment of cross-border irrigation schemes. The importance of incorporating energy in development planning [20] and the transboundary nature of the SADC's watercourses [7] underlines the need to balance and coordinate resource development through the WEF nexus. The CAADP addressed this by placing emphasis on prioritising investment in small-scale irrigation, setting a target of about 14.2 million ha for small-scale irrigation schemes.…”

Section: What Is the Vision For Food Security In Africa And Southern mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prospects for Improving Irrigated Agriculture in Southern Africa: Linking Water, Energy and Food

Mabhaudhi

Mpandeli

Nhamo

et al. 2018

Water

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Increasing agricultural productivity has always been a prominent feature on the regional agenda due to a high incidence of food and nutrition insecurity. This review assessed the current status of irrigated agriculture in southern Africa from a water–energy–food (WEF) nexus perspective. Gaps and opportunities for improving irrigated agriculture within the context of the WEF nexus were also assessed in terms of the feasible limits to which they can be exploited. Southern Africa faces water scarcity, and climate projections show that member states will face increased physical and/or economic water scarcity by as early as 2025, which will have negative impacts on water, energy and food production. Recurrent droughts experienced across the region reaffirm the sensitive issues of food and energy insecurity as well as water scarcity. Projections of an increasing population within the region indicate increased water, energy and food demand. With agriculture already accounting for about 70% of water withdrawals, increasing the area under irrigation will place additional demand on already strained energy grids and scarce water resources. This poses the question—is increasing irrigated agriculture a solution to improving water access, food security and energy supply? While there are prospects for increasing the area under irrigation and subsequent improvement in agricultural productivity, adopting a WEF nexus approach in doing so would mitigate trade-offs and unintended consequences. Consideration of the WEF nexus in integrated resources planning and management eliminates the possibilities of transferring problems from one sector to other, as it manages synergies and trade-offs. While it is acknowledged that improving water productivity in irrigated agriculture could reduce water and energy use while increasing yield output, there is a need to decide how such savings would then be reallocated. Any intervention to increase the irrigated area should be done in the context of a WEF nexus analytical framework to guide policy and decision-making. Technical planning should evolve around the WEF nexus approach in setting targets, as WEF nexus indicators would reveal the performance and impact of proposed interventions on any of the three WEF nexus components.

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Section: What Is the Vision For Food Security In Africa And Southern mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This has led to the argument that improvements in crop productivity lie in increasing the area under irrigated agriculture [6]. However, given the interlinkages between water, energy and food, there is need to adopt an integrated water-energy-food (WEF) nexus approach that balances the needs across sectors and mitigates trade-offs [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prospects for Improving Irrigated Agriculture in Southern Africa: Linking Water, Energy and Food

Mabhaudhi

Mpandeli

Nhamo

et al. 2018

Water

Self Cite

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“…Therefore, in this case, an assessment using a chain-integrated toolkit can be considered. Here, the result of one model is input to another [25,27,39].…”

Section: Limitations Involving Nexus Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the specifics of each location and the challenges highlighted, previous research has addressed these relationships through case studies and literature reviews. Case studies involve sociopolitical realities at different scales (country, state, city, and organizations) [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43] and the development of new methodologies and models [19,[44][45][46]. There are also case studies that quantify the interrelationships between nexus elements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Literature Review to Propose a Systematic Procedure to Develop “Nexus Thinking” Considering the Water–Energy–Food Nexus

et al. 2019

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There is a growing interest in the literature on the theme of the water–energy–food nexus, as there is growing recognition that sectors that share natural resources have interdependent and interconnected systems. Despite the widespread popularity of nexus thinking, it still lacks standardized procedures and methodologies to assist in its development. Therefore, this paper proposes, from a literature review, a systematic procedure to assist in the development of management models based on nexus thinking. To this end, 304 papers were analyzed using the following criteria: nexus concept, type of approach, geographic scale, elements in the nexus system, application context, and types of assessment methods and tools. The results of the review served as the basis for determining the procedure, which consisted of four steps: (a) understanding nexus thinking, (b) identification of composing variables, (c) evaluation (diagnosis and prognosis), and (d) decision-making. In addition to the standardization of these steps, the main information used to compose the procedure was organized and synthesized with a mind map.

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“…Fereres et al (2011) commented that future availability of water for food production using irrigation was more doubtful than the ability to produce sufficient food in the future. Indeed, with about 75% of the Southern African Development Community countries classified as water‐scarce (Nhamo et al 2018), it is unlikely that its population will be food‐secure by 2050.…”

Section: The Special Challenge Of Sub‐saharan Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Food Security as a Water Grand Challenge

Bangira

2018

Contemporary Water Research

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Perhaps the biggest challenge the world faces is providing sufficient, nutritious, and safe food at the right time for its ever‐increasing population. Considering current world population growth trends, it is estimated that the global population will be about 10 billion by the year 2050. Therefore, food production should at least double in the same period if food security is to be satisfied. Water and land resources play a pivotal role in agriculture and directly connect to food security. At the same time, the capacity to produce food is constrained by global climate changes and increased pressure on land resources. These challenges are more severe in Southern Asia, Sub‐Saharan Africa, and East Asia, where conflict and lack of capacity to fund agricultural research and food production are common. Strategies that simultaneously increase food production and reduce threats to food security are therefore needed. The objectives of this paper are to review the grand challenges of global food security and to propose strategies for mitigating food insecurity, with an emphasis on the link between water resources and food production.

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The Water-Energy-Food Nexus: Climate Risks and Opportunities in Southern Africa

Cited by 140 publications

References 31 publications

Prospects for Improving Irrigated Agriculture in Southern Africa: Linking Water, Energy and Food

Prospects for Improving Irrigated Agriculture in Southern Africa: Linking Water, Energy and Food

A Literature Review to Propose a Systematic Procedure to Develop “Nexus Thinking” Considering the Water–Energy–Food Nexus

Food Security as a Water Grand Challenge

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