In Mozambique, about 500,000 cases of diarrhoea were caused by foodborne pathogens in 2018. A review of the epidemiology of diarrhoea in children under five showed a high disease burden. This study aimed to identify Diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) and Salmonella spp. contamination of food and water in urban and rural areas of Maputo consumed by children under five with diarrhoea. One hundred and eighty-six children with diarrhoea were selected from Primeiro de Maio and Marracuene Health Care Centres from the Kamaxakeni and Marracuene districts, respectively. Food (n = 167) and water (n = 100) samples were collected in children’s households for diarrhoeagenic bacterial identification. Interviews were conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire to collect data about demographics and foods consumed a week before the children’s diarrhoea episodes. The prevalence of both DEC and Salmonella spp. was 9.8% in food and 5.4% in water samples. DEC was most prevalent in cereals (urban = 2.8%; rural = 2.4%) and water samples (urban = 1.4%; rural = 3.3%). Salmonella spp. was mainly detected in cereals (urban = 0.7%; rural = 0.8%). Diarrhoeagenic pathogens were associated with the type of food frequently consumed by children under five years with diarrhoea (infant formula, fruit puree, ready-to-eat meals, and bottled water), while the association with demographics was absent. We found that the infant foods consumed by children with diarrhoea are associated with DEC and Salmonella spp., and the prevalence of these contaminants is higher in the rural (8.9%) than in the urban area (6.3%), showing the need for caregiver education on food handling practices.

This paper explores the place of technological interventions in the conceptualisation of the Water–Energy–Food Nexus (WEF Nexus). The focus is on the just infrastructure interventions required to decarbonise and adapt to the challenges of the climate crisis for sustainable livelihoods. We explore the overlap between two bodies of work, the WEF Nexus and Socio-Technical Systems, grown from different disciplinary perspectives, to scrutinise the extent to which there is a coherent synthesis of work that can examine infrastructure impacts and trade-offs in a WEF system. Following a systematic literature review and analysis, a framework is proposed for water and energy infrastructure interventions to both support sustainable development and recognise infrastructure’s role in a just and equitable society. This framework will support the creation of models that are less likely to miss vital components of a system or potential trade-offs and supports a multi-disciplinary approach to infrastructure interventions. | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) | This work was funded by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC, Grant no. EP/V006592/1, UK) and the Belmont Forum under the project title Theory of Change Observatory on Disaster Resilience–TOCO DR. | Sustainability

The thermal demand in agri-food industries is characterised by its considerable variability, hindering the implementation of Solar Water Heating Systems (SWHS). The main objective of the study is to provide an overview of how consumption patterns influence the profitability and energy savings of SWHS in the sector, while also identifying additional key variables that affect their viability. For this purpose, approximately 1,300,000 cases have been examined, considering a wide range of consumption patterns, economic variables, and locations. Demand seasonality, weekly frequency and energy prices exhibit the greatest impact on the feasibility of SWHS. Uniformity of daily demand, location and investment cost are also determinants. Thus, single-day-per-week consumption patterns make SWHS unviable in most scenarios. However, with only three non-consecutive days, feasibility increases significantly, achieving paybacks of less than 5 years and energy savings of over 40 % when conditions are highly favorable. In strongly seasonal industries, the viability of SWHS is seriously compromised. The payback in patterns with a peak consumption in the early morning can double the value with uniform one (e.g., from 4 to 8 years in the most favorable scenarios at a price of 0.1 /kWh). The results tables reflecting payback and energy savings in thousands of different scenarios represent a valuable tool for decision-making in industries. By looking for the scenario with the most similar characteristics, it is possible to estimate the profitability and savings of the SWHS in a given industry, as well as the possible variations when changing the assumed variables.

Water, energy, and food and their interactions (commonly referred to as the WEF nexus) are critical pillars to resolving the intractable global challenges such as poverty, hunger, malnutrition, poor sanitation, climate, and health crises. The nexus approach, practices, and innovations at the household level are critical determinants of whether resource use efficiency, co-benefits, basic rights to water and food, and sustainability governance are attained. In particular, smart WEF innovations can contribute to the current generations’ economic, social, and environmental needs without compromising the needs of the future generation. The study aimed to identify smart innovations, practices, and factors influencing their adoption to inform policy and decision-making processes. The study intends to support scaling up the adoption of innovations and practices that enhance sustainability and resource security in support of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Semi-structured interviews and key informant interviews (KII) supplemented with observational checklists were used to identify the WEF nexus smart technologies, innovations, and practices in Vhembe District Municipality, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Data were collected from a sample size of 128 households in the study area. Our findings revealed synergistic smart innovation practices across WEF resource use and management practices. Though indigenous knowledge (IK) practices were widely evident in the study area, non-existent WEF smart knowledge support systems existed in the study area. Indigenous knowledge practices were the most elicited innovation by 99.2% of households, suggesting it is critical to advancing WEF smart innovations and practices and needs to be integrated into any policy and governance interventions. A proportion of households recycle water (27%), whilst 53% use untreated water. Furthermore, the knowledge systems on smart WEF innovations were fragmented despite their potential to synergize sustainability objectives. Exploring innovation platforms (IPs) as vehicles for dissemination, innovation, and extension and advisory service delivery, as well as validation of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS), has the potential to contribute to the diffusion, uptake, and scaling of existing innovation and practices with significant spill-over effects on WEF resource security and sustainability outcomes both at local and extra local scales.

Smart integration of water, energy, agriculture, and environmental systems can create synergies, increase socio-economic benefits, and minimize environmental impact. However, effective planning of integrated water-energy-food-environment systems (iWEFEs) requires high resolution temporal and spatial data on various environmental and socioeconomic variables. Insufficient data availability and accessibility hampers the implementation of iWEFEs, particularly in remote areas of low- and middle-income countries. Addressing this gap, first, essential variables for the planning of iWEFEs are identified. Next, remote datasets are evaluated and selected regarding their suitability to serve for the planning of iWEFEs using a multi-criteria-analysis considering data accessibility, spatial coverage, spatial resolution, temporal resolution, and temporal coverage. Remote and in-situ data collection for the identified WEFE variables are implemented using a pilot case study of a smallholder farm in the data-scarce tropics of Costa Rica. The remote data collection is automated via APIs to open servers, data analysis and data visualization scripts, and complemented by an online survey. In-situ measurements are recommended to address data gaps in remote sensing, which are especially prevalent in the water domain. The research shall lay the foundation for free, open and automated data collection enabling the planning of iWEFEs worldwide.

Climate change is a phenomenon that significantly affects vulnerable societies by disrupting water, energy, and food security. Hence, to meet projected socioeconomic needs while ensuring the sustainable development of these resources, a multidisciplinary approach to managing water, energy, food, and the environment under climate change is essential. This chapter outlines and promotes the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus approach, a holistic methodology that is becoming highly prevalent for more effective resource usage and economic growth. Furthermore, in light of climate change adaptation, this chapter discusses what adaptation means in today’s climate-sensitive society and the possible impact on resource security. A basin-level review on climate change impacts on WEF resources in the Buffalo River catchment, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, was conducted, which revealed that impacts from water pressures imposed by climate change and incoherent management of water resources are anticipated to have an adverse impact on agricultural production and the energy sector. Findings also emphasize the significance of adapting to the WEF nexus’ systems thinking approach in resource management under climate change, which addresses synergies, trade-offs, and harmonisation of management strategies.

This study investigates tetrabutylphosphonium-based ionic liquids for food dye removal via extraction using aqueous biphasic systems with ammonium sulfate. Furthermore, these ionic liquids were used for activated carbon regeneration and employed for dye removal from the water as well. This dual approach achieved high extraction efficiencies (≈ 90%) and nearly complete regeneration (98%) of the activated carbon used as a food dye adsorbent. These findings underscore the potential of tetrabutylphosphonium ionic liquids for managing dye-contaminated water.