The water-energy-food nexus research in the Brazilian context: What are we missing?

Fontana, Michele; Moreira, Fabiano de Araújo; Giulio, Gabriela Marques Di; Malheiros, Tadeu Fabrí­cio

doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2020.06.021

Cited by 39 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Nonetheless, the research largely proposes technological, technocratic and managerial solutions that do not touch on the diverse root causes of the problems (Wiegleb and Bruns, 2018), or focus on the implementation of large-scale and long-lasting interventions (e.g., dams construction for hydropower, land use changes for biofuels production, large-scale interbasin transfers) (Dalla Fontana et al, 2020).…”

Section: When?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Five Ws of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: A Reflexive Approach to Enable the Production of Actionable Knowledge

et al. 2021

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The water-energy-food nexus is now a popular approach in the sustainability field. However, whereas the nexus calls for more holistic, inter- and transdisciplinary approaches, the research produced over the past decade has been fragmented and specialized. Furthermore, there is still a gap between the nexus as a descriptive and analytical concept and its operationalization. Nexus research needs a shift from “thinking” to “action,” which we understand as the production of actionable knowledge. This paper delves into the literature and presents five “W” questions as an iterative heuristic for the nexus concept to encourage reflexivity and inter-and transdisciplinary dialogue, while aiming at the production of actionable knowledge. We draw on the literature to discuss the five “W” questions of the nexus, namely: (i) Why, in which we explore the purpose of nexus research for actionable knowledge; (ii) What, in which we explore the material aspect of the nexus and the interactions between water, energy and food systems; (iii) Where, in which we discuss issues of scale, interactions between scales, and the geographical context of the nexus; (iv) When, in which we consider temporal dimensions of nexus research with a particular emphasis on intergenerational trade-offs, and (v) Who, which focuses on nexus stakeholders and the importance of understanding issues of justice and equity. Finally, we discuss the connections and dependencies between the five Ws, reinforcing the importance for researchers to reflect on their decision-making and engage in inter- and transdisciplinary debate to enable nexus action.

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Section: When?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Five Ws of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: A Reflexive Approach to Enable the Production of Actionable Knowledge

et al. 2021

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“…Several studies point out the importance of the nexus between water, energy, and food production [8][9][10][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Water abstraction, pumping, and irrigation for crops require large amounts of energy for its implementation [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water–Food–Energy Nexus Tradeoffs in the São Marcos River Basin

Bof

Marques

Tilmant

et al. 2021

Water

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Given its potentialities and characteristics, energy generation, food production, and water availability have a strong interdependency and correlation. Water is needed to produce energy and food, while energy is required to produce water and food. This nexus brings several challenges when scarce water resources must be allocated among competing uses, often in the form of unexpected tradeoffs. Addressing those challenges requires knowledge about the water–food–energy nexus and the associated tradeoffs to support water allocation and management decisions. Those tradeoffs are still not properly understood in the uncertain and stochastic context of water availability. When not properly accounted for, the results are conflicts, loss of investments, environmental impacts, and limited effectiveness of sectoral policies, all of which undermine a country’s development model relying on water and energy security. This paper addresses the competitive uses of recent irrigated agriculture expansion and existing hydropower production in a Brazilian watershed with water conflicts, assessing the economic tradeoffs and water values between energy and irrigated agricultural production under uncertainty. An explicitly stochastic hydro-economic model is used to determine water’s economic value and its variation in space and time. Results indicate that the agricultural benefits outweigh the potential energy losses, and the best course of action should explore an economically compensated reallocation strategy, upon negotiation among users, rather than imposing water supply cutbacks to the agriculture sector.

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“…According to Melloni et al (2020, p. 1-2), assessment of the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus "supports natural resource management by providing an integrated framework for evaluation and decision-making." The research on the WEF nexus mainly deploys quantitative top-down methodologies, at a national scale, with few examples of participative and collaborative approaches (Albrecht, Crootof and Scott 2018;Mercure et al 2019;Dalla Fontana et al 2020;Daher et al 2019). However, authors such as Leal et al (2018), Kraftl et al (2019), Melloni et al (2020) and Kalberg et al (2015) argue for nexus-related studies to be built from bottom-up approaches, utilizing qualitative, participative and collaborative methodologies in which the key actors participate in the nexus analysis and become principal agents in the decision-making process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Participatory Mapping and SWOT in the context of the Water-Food-Energy Nexus for attaining SDGs in Eastern Amazonia

Tavares

Silva

Xavier

et al. 2021

Proc. Int. Cartogr. Assoc.

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Abstract. The nexus concept is applied to many global contexts to generate understanding of the relations among the water, food and energy sectors and to guide investigations that seek to improve living conditions of marginalized communities. This work analyses the nexus by means of qualitative and participative methodologies at a community scale with the objective of understanding how residents of traditional communities perceive the interconnections among water, food, and energy. SWOT and participatory mapping methodologies were utilized complementarily to map the water, food, and energy contexts of Ponta do Urumajó community, located in Pará state, Brazil. Participatory mapping and SWOT create quali-quantitative data, enabling the participation of individuals in the production of participatory maps of their territories and the material and symbolic appropriation of spaces, constituting a political and social strategy for empowerment and autonomy. These methods provided the basis for learning and reflecting on the social, environmental, territorial, and political reality in terms of the water, food, and energy nexus, making it possible to use the data for achieving the SDGs, creating future public policies or more rational community management adjusted to the local reality.

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The water-energy-food nexus research in the Brazilian context: What are we missing?

Cited by 39 publications

References 52 publications

The Five Ws of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: A Reflexive Approach to Enable the Production of Actionable Knowledge

The Five Ws of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: A Reflexive Approach to Enable the Production of Actionable Knowledge

Water–Food–Energy Nexus Tradeoffs in the São Marcos River Basin

Participatory Mapping and SWOT in the context of the Water-Food-Energy Nexus for attaining SDGs in Eastern Amazonia

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