CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH); | Schuenemann Franziska et al., 'Impacts of biofuel production on the food-energy-water nexus in Malawi', In Management of land use systems for enhanced food security: conflicts, controversies and resolutions, p 625, IFPRI, 2015

The continued population growth associated with an increased demand for food constitute a great challenge for land and water engineers, managers and policy makers since food security is a main issue in the XXI century. In fact, land availability is likely decreasing and soils are degrading, which call for new, innovative measures of land protection and soil conservation and preservation. In association, water scarcity is increasing at same time that there is an increased demand for water, particularly for irrigated agriculture. However, land and water productivity under irrigation are increasing and there is potential for its sustainable growth. Issues required for sustainability of food production need to be well known and related policies must be considered. Issues include those referring to the sustainability of family farming vs. capital intensive farming, questions relative to the sustainability of surface irrigation vs. pressurized, energy demanding methods, and to the adequate mix of knowledge and practice when looking for land and water productivity. A few examples are given.

This article is devoted to the assessment of Tunisian agricultural production and food trade balance water-equivalent. A linear regression model relating annual rainfall to crop yields is developed to estimate the agricultural production water-equivalent. Its implementation is based on national data for crop and animal production, leading to food demand water-equivalent quantification. Results highlight the relationship between agricultural and water policies and provide a picture of food security in the country in relation to local agricultural production, and to virtual water fluxes related to foodstuffs trade balance.

This paper provides a review of the emerging literature on the water–energy–food (WEF) nexus and then analyses the nexus in the context of Bangladesh. Results suggest that the WEF nexus is not yet recognized in the policy documents of Bangladesh, while conflicts over these resources are growing. In order to reduce this contestation, ‘policy integration’ is recommended for implementing key policies in the WEF nexus.

The water–energy–food nexus is being promoted as a conceptual tool for achieving sustainable development. Frameworks for implementing nexus thinking, however, have failed to explicitly or adequately incorporate sustainable livelihoods perspectives. This is counterintuitive given that livelihoods are key to achieving sustainable development. In this paper we present a critical review of nexus approaches and identify potential linkages with sustainable livelihoods theory and practice, to deepen our understanding of the interrelated dynamics between human populations and the natural environment. Building upon this review, we explore the concept of ‘environmental livelihood security’ – which encompasses a balance between natural resource supply and human demand on the environment to promote sustainability – and develop an integrated nexus-livelihoods framework for examining the environmental livelihood security of a system. The outcome is an integrated framework with the capacity to measure and monitor environmental livelihood security of whole systems by accounting for the water, energy and food requisites for livelihoods at multiple spatial scales and institutional levels. We anticipate this holistic approach will not only provide a significant contribution to achieving national and regional sustainable development targets, but will also be effective for promoting equity amongst individuals and communities in local and global development agendas.

The world’s farmers will likely need to produce enough food to feed 8 billion people by 2025, and to do so they must have enough water to raise their crops. Yet farmers are already competing with industry, domestic water users, and the environment for access to the world’s finite supply of water. Will available freshwater meet the rapidly growing demands for household, industrial, and environmental needs and still provide enough water to produce food for a burgeoning population? New research from IFPRI shows what steps policymakers and water users can take now to help ensure that water scarcity will not result in worsening hunger for the world’s poorest people. | Non-PR | IFPRI2; Public Policy and Investment; 2020 | DGO

CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) | High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE), 'Water for food security and nutrition A report by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the Committee on World Food Security', , IFPRI, 2015

PR | IFPRI5;CRP5 | EPTD | CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE)