Non-PR | IFPRI5; CRP4; | DGO; HarvestPlus; A4NH; | CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH);

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.

Discussion paper | The competition for limited water resources between agriculture and more highly valued domestic and industrial water uses is rapidly increasing and will likely require the transfer of water out of agriculture. This paper reviews and synthesizes the available evidence of the effects of water transfers from agricultural to urban and industrial areas on local and regional rural economies; and analyzes the potential impacts of a large reallocation on global food supply and demand. It concludes with a discussion on the potential for water policy reform and demand management to minimize adverse impacts when water is reallocated from agriculture. It is argued that comprehensive reforms are required to mitigate the potentially adverse impacts of water transfers for local communities and to sustain crop yield and output growth to meet rising food demands at the global level. Key policy reforms include the establishment of secure water rights to users; the decentralization and privatization of water management functions to appropriate levels; the use of incentives including pricing reform, especially in urban contexts, and markets in tradable property rights; and the introduction of appropriate water-saving technologies. | EPTD | IFPRI1 | Non-PR

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.

Separation of water-soluble lignins from lignocellulosic biomass provides a new and still poorly exploited feedstock to increase the sustainability of biorefineries. We applied derivatization followed by a reductive cleavage (DFRC) method, 2D-HSQC-NMR, and ³¹PNMR after ³¹P-labeling, to investigate molecular composition in water-soluble lignins obtained by alkaline oxidation from three biomass materials for energy (miscanthus, giant reed and an industrially pre-treated giant reed). Chromatographic identification of lignin products cleaved by DFRC showed a large predominance of guaiacyl (G) units in all biomasses and a lesser abundance of syringyl (S) and p-coumaryl (P) monomers. Our S/G ratios disagree with those reported in literature by other lignin separation methods. Carboxyl functions (ferulic and pcoumaric acids) were revealed by heterocorrelated ¹H–¹³C HSQC-NMR, and confirmed by ³¹P-NMR spectra of ³¹ P-labeled lignin molecules. An understanding of molecular composition of water-soluble lignins from biomass sources for energy is essential for lignin most efficient exploitation in either industrial or agricultural applications.

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.

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.

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