2024

The food and water crisis that affected Zambia due to prolonged dry spells between 2018 and 2020 is an example of how natural, socioeconomic, and political drivers can produce compounding impacts with long-lasting implications for development. This retrospective disaster analysis explores the risk interactions and early warning early action functioning before and during the event, to draw lessons for anticipation and response to future crises of a similar nature. Combined, the findings feed into the understanding of risk and impacts, which is crucial for improving impact-focused early warning and implementation of early actions. The Government of Zambia’s Disaster Management and Mitigation Unity (DMMU) and Zambia Red Cross Society (ZRCS), key stakeholders in the research, indicated a gap in knowledge of the drivers and impacts of the food and water crisis in Western Province and EWEA functioning at the time, especially the more remote border areas located near the border with Angola and Namibia. No retrospective analysis of the 2018-2020 crisis event has so far included a review of the functioning of the EWEA components at the time at the national and local levels. Therefore, this analysis focuses on Western Province of Zambia, specifically the Sioma, Sesheke and Shang’ombo border districts. The research provides an in-depth perspective on one of the most recent food security crises in Zambia to inform localization and strengthen early warning and early action efforts at the national and community levels. The 2023 drought event in Zambia underscores the critical need for enhanced preparedness for similar crises. This research complements ongoing initiatives for early warning for drought (e.g. through the AWARE project) and efforts within the National Technical Working Group for Forecast-Based Financing, chaired by DMMU, on drought trigger and early action protocol development. This research's focus on hazard and vulnerability interactions aligns with the move to multi-hazard contingency planning in Zambia, led by DMMU. The mixed-methods forensic analysis builds on key informant interviews, focus group discussions, peer-reviewed literature, publicly accessible data and geospatial analysis to consider compounding and cascading risk interactions in 2018–2020 in Zambia, their attendant impacts and risk drivers, and available warnings as well as the communication and early actions associated with them. Complementing ongoing initiatives to strengthen EWEA activities in Zambia for food- and water-related impacts, this study provides contextual information that can support improved targeting, early action selection, warning system design and coordination.

This position paper advocates for the integration of the water, energy, food and ecosystem (WEFE) nexus approach into Nepal’s policy and planning processes. By doing so, it aspires to foster a development trajectory that is sustainable, inclusive, equitable and responsive to the needs of all citizens, particularly the vulnerable and marginalized groups, against a backdrop of accelerating climate change and resource interdependencies. The main contents of the paper are summarized below. Understanding the WEFE nexus: The WEFE nexus represents a holistic approach to managing interconnected natural resources essential for human well-being and environmental sustainability. This approach involves the management of water, energy, food and ecosystems in an integrated manner to enhance security and efficiency across these sectors. It aims to increase resource efficiency, minimize trade-offs, bolster synergies and improve governance, keeping in view the interdependencies of these sectors. It emphasizes a shift from a focus on particular resources to a systems perspective that prioritizes comprehensive resource security and environmental protection. It advocates for people-centric solutions that are driven by demand-led technological and market innovations. Nexus thinking is essential to balance competing interests in the water, energy and food sectors while maintaining ecosystem health. In Nepal’s context, the integration of the political and social dimensions of the WEFE nexus determines who controls and accesses natural resources. The WEFE nexus approach, integrated with gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) and livelihood considerations, is vital to supporting the economically poor and socially marginalized sections in Nepal who are reliant on natural resources. Importance of the WEFE nexus approach in Nepal: In Nepal, the concept of the WEFE nexus is in its developmental stage but is highly pertinent due to worrying trends that are adversely affecting human well-being and the environment. Nepal faces varied challenges, including water scarcity, unpredictable and extreme environmental events and rising demand for energy and food, all of which underscore the need for a strategic and integrated approach to resource management. This paper argues that the WEFE nexus approach is imperative for Nepal, for several reasons. These include the interconnectedness of resource systems and recognizing and managing the interdependencies among water, energy, food and ecosystems; Nepal’s climate change vulnerabilities and enhancing resilience against climate-induced risks; global commitments in alignment with international obligations and sustainable development goals (SDGs); resource governance and achieving equitable and efficient resource management; and cross-sectoral climate impacts, and hence the need to address the comprehensive effects of climate change on resources. Essentially, the WEFE nexus needs to be promoted in national policies, plans and strategies to ensure sustainable development. Purpose and rationale of this position paper: This position paper seeks to provide a roadmap for all stakeholders, including policymakers, researchers, and international development partners, by (i) offering a critical overview of the WEFE nexus approach; (ii) proposing a practical WEFE framework tailored for Nepal, considering GESI and livelihood perspectives; and (iii) suggesting strategies for improved governance through enhanced coordination and collaboration between different sectors, thereby optimizing resource use and conserving ecosystems. Nepal’s political, economic and social context: Nepal’s transition to a federal polity has introduced and accompanied a number of significant shifts in the socio-economic context that impact the WEFE sectors. These shifts include demographic, social and economic changes; urbanization; migration; and societal challenges such as youth unemployment, gender inequality and social exclusion. These elements form the backdrop against which the WEFE sectors operate, emphasizing the need for a nuanced understanding of their interconnections and effects. WEFE policies and institutional context in Nepal: For Nepal to effectively implement the WEFE nexus approach, there is a need for improved policy coherence, inter-sectoral collaboration mainly between the WEFE sectors and a commitment by all stakeholders to integrating GESI considerations in their activities. Addressing these challenges requires a concerted effort from all stakeholders, including policymakers, development partners and the community at large. The recognition of the WEFE nexus within Nepal’s policy and legal frameworks is an ongoing process. Despite policy commitments and some progress in integrated approaches, varied challenges persist due to fragmentation and compartmentalization of the management of natural resources and disconnected policies in water, energy, food and forest resources. The lack of synergy, collaboration and adequate investment further complicates the execution of nexus-oriented programs.

This manual walks users through a programmatic process to develop the capacities of water-energy-food-ecosystems (WEFE) nexus actors, with an emphasis on women professionals. The program is designed to support diverse participants in navigating the complexities of managing the WEFE nexus in an integrated and equitable way to drive sustainable development efforts around the world. This manual describes the program structure and contents, along with clear guidance and practical facilitation strategies to enhance WEFE nexus knowledge and practices. While the program was developed in Nepal, the manual and the program it describes are intended for an international audience. As such, this program can serve as a flexible resource adaptable for a broad range of settings.

The Sustainable Development Goals are interconnected and cut across Food, Land and Water (FLW) systems. But the formulation and implementation of national policy objectives to attain the SDGs may be fragmented and uncoordinated. The CGIAR Initiative on National Policies and Strategies (NPS), aims to contribute to agri-foods system transformation, by identifying ways of building stronger FLW policies with greater coherence and investment capacity, to support Nigeria in addressing current crises and future development needs. This flagship report focuses on (in)coherence in policies related to FLW systems in Nigeria, through the lens of Policies and Institutions Landscape Analysis Framework. To achieve policy coherence for sustainable development, the report highlights the need for: 1. strengthening staff and institutional capacities for FLW contextual and policy analysis to effectively identify, anticipate and respond to crisis. 2. developing systemic polycentric decision-making and governance, involving multi-stakeholders at the Federal, State and Local levels. 3. providing sustainable funding for the effective implementation of policy objectives, projects and programmes in the relevant FLW-related sectors 4. maintaining continuity of the implementation of ongoing transformative FLW policy objectives and programmes when an incumbent government comes into power. 5. promoting evidence-based (real time and high-quality data) policy formulation, monitoring, evaluation, and learning.

Contamination of food and water with radioactive substances is a serious health problem. There are several methods to detect and measure radioactive materials, some of which have been developed in recent years. This paper aims to discuss the methods of detecting and measuring radioactive substances in food and water. The principles and the advantages and disadvantages of each method have been discussed. The results showed that some of these methods, such as spectrometry γ-ray high purity germanium, portable radon gas surveyor SILENA, RAD7, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, have a higher sensitivity for detection and measurement. Also, the spectrometry γ-ray high purity germanium method has attracted more attention than other methods because it can measure a wide range of radionuclides with high resolution.

There are large regional differences regarding the use of phosphorus (P) fertilizer in global crop production. Likewise, people's accesses to crop calories and exposure to water pollution differ largely among world regions. The use of P fertilizer is needed to meet agricultural requirement and solve these inequalities. We developed a multi-objective framework for optimizing P fertilizer use that considered water quality, food security and social equality. Different optimal objectives yield contrasting results for the geographical distribution of P fertilizer use, crop calorie production and social equality. Optimized P fertilizer use without recycling P management may pose a threat to global food security. Approximately 3 %–43 % of the current global crop calorie production may be decreased, and inequality in access to crop calories may also increase. Overall, although a multi-objective framework to optimize the use of P fertilizer reduces crop calorie yield, it can help intergenerational equality of P fertilizer use and improve water quality.