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SDG 17 underscores the pivotal and interconnected role of water, including its energy implications, in addressing challenges related to human well-being and sustainable development. Solar water pumps (SWPs) offer an important technological innovation exemplifying this water–energy–food–society nexus. As a comparatively new and eco-friendly approach to irrigation, SWPs have the potential to substantially benefit millions of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). With costs for solar products steadily reducing, the small-scale SWP market is expected to grow in sales and expand into new territories. Overall, the region’s groundwater resources are known to be greatly underutilized and hence enable greater SWP adoption. This study assesses the possible risks to groundwater resources from SWP expansion to the year 2030. The current market environment is extremely heterogeneous across regions and countries. It is conservatively estimated that up to 10,000 units are sold each year, with the strongest markets found in East Africa. Around 100,000 SWP units are estimated to be in operation. For projected rates of annual growth spanning from 6% to 18%, along with intentionally high estimates of groundwater pumping, the upper limit on the quantity of available groundwater pumped by small SWP development to 2030 would vary from 0.4% to 0.6% at the SSA scale. Values in the regions vary from a low of <0.1% for Central Africa through to a high of 1.6%–2.1% for Southern Africa. Specific countries may generally support additional SWPs ranging from tens of thousands up to millions of units without negatively impacting on groundwater availability. Countries characterized by greater recharge and lower current groundwater use can accommodate greater numbers of SWP systems. Short-term threats to the availability of groundwater are assessed to be low over the short and medium terms. Over the long term, risks to groundwater may be greater than evaluated in this study should SWP growth rates exceed the projected range or if improvements in technology allow for stronger, small-capacity pumps to flood the market. To address long-term groundwater management challenges, key action areas have been defined that recognize the diverse conditions across the regions.

Summaries (En) | What will happen to food production and global food security as water becomes increasingly scarce? What steps can we take to avert threats to global food supply, the environment and the livelihoods of those lacking access to clean water? Using state-of-the-art computer modelling to show how water availability and demand are likely to evolve, the book contends that if current water policies continue, so will high levels of food insecurity, environmental degradation, and water-related ill health. Further neglect of water issues could produce genuine water crisis, which in turn could lead to a food crisis. The authors show exactly which policies and actions could ensure sustainable and efficient water use, enough food for the world's people, and adequate drinking water for all. | Gift

Let it Reign highlights key facts, conditions and trends regarding water aspects of food production, consumption and ecological sustainability. It presents policy recommendations within governance, capacity building/awareness raising and financing in order to improve water productivity and increase the possibility to produce the food needed, improve diets, and raise consumer awareness â all in an equitable and ecologically sustainable manner. | SIWI, 'Let it reign: The new water paradigm for global food security', , IFPRI, 2005

Lance Heath et al., 'Climate and Security in Asia and the Pacific (Food, Water and Energy)', Advances in Global Change Research, pp.129-198, Springer Netherlands, 2013 | The impacts of increasing natural climate disasters are threatening food security in the Asia-Pacific region. Rice is Asia�??s most important staple food. Climate variability and change directly impact rice production, through changes in rainfall, temperature and CO2 concentrations. The key for sustainable rice crop is water management. Adaptation can occur through shifts of cropping to higher latitudes and can profit from river systems (via irrigation) so far not considered. New opportunities arise to produce more than one crop per year in cooler areas. Asian wheat production in 2005 represents about 43 % of the global total. Changes in agronomic practices, such as earlier plant dates and cultivar substitution will be required. Fisheries play a crucial role in providing food security with the contribution of fish to dietary animal protein being very high in the region �?? up to 90 % in small island developing states (SIDS). With the warming of the Pacific and Indian Oceans and increased acidification, marine ecosystems are presently under stress. Despite these trends, maintaining or enhancing food production from the sea is critical. However, future sustainability must be maintained whilst also securing biodiversity conservation. Improved fisheries management to address the existing non-climate threats remains paramount in the Indian and Pacific Oceans with sustainable management regimes being established. Climate-related impacts are expected to increase in magnitude over the coming decades, thus preliminary adaptation to climate change is valuable

Aditi Mukherji, T. Facon, S David, Colin J. Chartres, 'Growing more food with less water: how can revitalizing Asia?s irrigation help?', 2014 | Irrigation has always played a central role in the agrarian economy of Asia, from supporting famed hydraulic civilizations in the ancient past to spearheading Green Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s,. Asia accounts for 70% of the world?s irrigated area and is home to some of the oldest and largest irrigation schemes. While these irrigation schemes played an important role in ensuring food security for billions of people in the past, their current state of affairs leaves much to be desired. The purpose of this paper is analyze the current trends in irrigation in Asia and suggest ways and means for revitalizing irrigation for meeting our future food needs and fuelling agricultural growth. The paper recommends a five pronged approach for revitalizing Asia?s irrigation and provides region specific strategies for the same. The underlying principal of these multiple strategies is the belief that the public institutions at the heart of irrigation management in Asia need to give up comfortable rigidity and engage with individual users? needs and the demands placed by larger societal changes

The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus is a holistic concept used to understand the synergies and trade-offs of interdependent water, energy, and food resources. Despite its widespread use, this concept often overlooks environmental concerns. In addition, the lack of a systemic approach in the Aral Sea Basin (ASB) has resulted in serious environmental degradation. For instance, the Aral Sea, situated at the terminus of the basin, is steadily shrinking, yet researchers studying the WEF nexus tend to overlook the upstream tributaries of the basin. This study aims to determine the extent to which research on the WEF nexus in the ASB in Central Asia has considered the environment through a systematic review of the literature published between 2012 and 2022. The results indicate that the number of WEF publications regarding the ASB has seen an upward trend, with a primary focus on the transboundary level and less research available on the local and national levels. This confirms the strong reliance of Central Asian states on one another for food, energy, and water resources. Furthermore, the results show that the majority of published studies either do not consider environmental concerns in their analyses at all or do so with little precision. Therefore, to achieve precise and sustainable outcomes, this study recommends the inclusion of environmental concerns along with basin-wide coverage in future WEF analyses. Finally, the WEF concept should be downscaled to the national and local levels in order to facilitate its implementation.

The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus is a holistic concept used to understand the synergies and trade-offs of interdependent water, energy, and food resources. Despite its widespread use, this concept often overlooks environmental concerns. In addition, the lack of a systemic approach in the Aral Sea Basin (ASB) has resulted in serious environmental degradation. For instance, the Aral Sea, situated at the terminus of the basin, is steadily shrinking, yet researchers studying the WEF nexus tend to overlook the upstream tributaries of the basin. This study aims to determine the extent to which research on the WEF nexus in the ASB in Central Asia has considered the environment through a systematic review of the literature published between 2012 and 2022. The results indicate that the number of WEF publications regarding the ASB has seen an upward trend, with a primary focus on the transboundary level and less research available on the local and national levels. This confirms the strong reliance of Central Asian states on one another for food, energy, and water resources. Furthermore, the results show that the majority of published studies either do not consider environmental concerns in their analyses at all or do so with little precision. Therefore, to achieve precise and sustainable outcomes, this study recommends the inclusion of environmental concerns along with basin-wide coverage in future WEF analyses. Finally, the WEF concept should be downscaled to the national and local levels in order to facilitate its implementation.

The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus is a holistic concept used to understand the synergies and trade-offs of interdependent water, energy, and food resources. Despite its widespread use, this concept often overlooks environmental concerns. In addition, the lack of a systemic approach in the Aral Sea Basin (ASB) has resulted in serious environmental degradation. For instance, the Aral Sea, situated at the terminus of the basin, is steadily shrinking, yet researchers studying the WEF nexus tend to overlook the upstream tributaries of the basin. This study aims to determine the extent to which research on the WEF nexus in the ASB in Central Asia has considered the environment through a systematic review of the literature published between 2012 and 2022. The results indicate that the number of WEF publications regarding the ASB has seen an upward trend, with a primary focus on the transboundary level and less research available on the local and national levels. This confirms the strong reliance of Central Asian states on one another for food, energy, and water resources. Furthermore, the results show that the majority of published studies either do not consider environmental concerns in their analyses at all or do so with little precision. Therefore, to achieve precise and sustainable outcomes, this study recommends the inclusion of environmental concerns along with basin-wide coverage in future WEF analyses. Finally, the WEF concept should be downscaled to the national and local levels in order to facilitate its implementation.