This thesis concerns with water, energy, and food (WEF) security in Nepal in relation to hydropower development. Hydropower is challenging to WEF security in three ways: First, the focus is only on energy generation which overlooks the impacts on land, forest, water and biodiversity. Second, the hydropowerprojects are being built in the tributaries of transboundary rivers where local, national and international interests and priorities intersect because these rivers are sources of the economy; water, energy, food commodities; and other ecosystems services. Third, discourses on renewable energy, sustainable development and climate change portray hydropower as a promising renewable energy source as other renewable energy sources hold very less potential in Nepal. In this context, this thesis evaluates if the benefit-sharing approach can be a solution to overcome problems related to the implementation of hydropower which challenges WEF security. Therefore, the study adoptsWEF Nexus Framework and Benefit-sharing Framework to evaluate the challenges and possibilities for rising WEF security minimizing the hydropower-induced trade-offs. The study finds hydropower development in Nepal is rapid and haphazard which merely conceives trade-offs between energy production and other benefits. But benefit-sharing practice, though it is still in its nascent phase, has positively impacted WEF security primarily at the local level, mainly by providing irrigation and drinking water facilities, rural electrification, and agriculture-related livelihood training and support. However, a well-planned benefit-sharing approach as an integral part of hydropower development is lacking which foils equitable distribution of benefits among stakeholders across all levels and smooth implementation o f hydropower projects to enhance the sustainability of hydropower.

Innovation regarding food production and processing is required to meet the emerging challenges of ensuring worldwide food security and meeting consumer demands for high-quality, safe and nutritious food products. This review provides insights into the current state-of-the-art of the emerging applications of Plasma Activated Water (PAW) in the food industry. PAW antimicrobial properties, inactivation mechanisms and the critical factors determining the lethal effect, as well as the bases for other technological applications are discussed. Overall, this review article describes the degree of success achieved by PAW technology in different applications and illustrates its feasibility and applicability in the food-processing industry.

Water diversion and pollution are two pervasive stressors in river ecosystems that often co‐occur. Individual effects of both stressors on basal resources available to stream communities have been described, with diversion reducing detritus standing stocks and pollution increasing biomass of primary producers. However, interactive effects of both stressors on the structure and trophic basis of food webs remain unknown. We hypothesized that the interaction between both stressors increases the contribution of the green pathway in stream food webs. Given the key role of the high‐quality, but less abundant, primary producers, we also hypothesized an increase in food web complexity with larger trophic diversity in the presence of water diversion and pollution. To test these hypotheses, we selected four rivers in a range of pollution subject to similar water diversion schemes, and we compared food webs upstream and downstream of the diversion. We characterized food webs by means of stable isotope analysis. Both stressors directly changed the availability of basal resources, with water diversion affecting the brown food web by decreasing detritus stocks, and pollution enhancing the green food web by promoting biofilm production. The propagation of the effects at the base of the food web to higher trophic levels differed between stressors. Water diversion had little effect on the structure of food webs, but pollution increased food chain length and trophic diversity, and reduced trophic redundancy. The effects at higher trophic levels were exacerbated when combining both stressors, as the relative contribution of biofilm to the stock of basal resources increased even further. Overall, we conclude that moderate pollution increases food web complexity and that the interaction with water abstraction seems to amplify this effect. Our study shows the importance of assessing the interaction between stressors to create predictive tools for a proper management of ecosystems.

Water, energy, food, and ecology are essential for human survival and development. The Yangtze River Delta is one of the most important regions for China's sustainable development. It is of great significance to study the coupling coordinated development level of water-energy-food-ecology in the Yangtze River Delta for sustainable development. In this study, we establish the water-energy-food-ecology (WEFE) coupling and coordination development index system. Then, we analyze the degree of coupling coordination (DCC) of WEFE based on the coupling coordination evaluation model and projection pursuit model. The results show that the DCC of WEFE in the Yangtze River Delta shows obvious spatial-temporal characteristics. From the temporal view, the DCC in the Yangtze River Delta has shown an upward trend; from the spatial view, the DCC of Jiangsu, Anhui, and Zhejiang is higher than that of Shanghai. HIGHLIGHTS Water, energy, food, and ecology are essential for human survival and development.; It is of great significance to study the coordinated development level of WEFE in the Yangtze River Delta.; The coupling coordination degree of WEFE in the Yangtze River Delta shows obvious spatial-temporal characteristics.; The coupling coordination degrees in the Yangtze River Delta are gradually increasing in recent years.;

The sustainability of small island developing states (SIDS) of the Caribbean is fragile because of island size and topography, limited resources, population growth, natural disasters, and climate change. Current and projected sustainability in 2050 were assessed within the framework of the water–energy–food (WEF) nexus for 10 of 16 SIDS with the best databases. Values for each WEF sector below either Falkenmark indicators or regional averages were considered unsustainable (failing) for that sector. Overall, SIDS were considered unsustainable if they failed at least two of three sectors. Projected water sustainability for 2050 was based on population growth and climate change effects on precipitation and per capita water availability. All SIDS failed the food sector, and four failed the energy sector. Water was considered the ultimate control for long-term sustainability. Five SIDS currently fail the water sector, but all but the largest two SIDS are likely to fail this sector by 2050. The role of poor governance and associated lack of long-term planning for population growth, disasters, and climate change, adaptative management strategies, infrastructure investment with an emphasis on nature-based solutions, decentralized energy grids emphasizing renewable energy, and local food production are clearly impediments for reaching sustainability goals for Caribbean SIDS.

The sustainability of small island developing states (SIDS) of the Caribbean is fragile because of island size and topography, limited resources, population growth, natural disasters, and climate change. Current and projected sustainability in 2050 were assessed within the framework of the water–energy–food (WEF) nexus for 10 of 16 SIDS with the best databases. Values for each WEF sector below either Falkenmark indicators or regional averages were considered unsustainable (failing) for that sector. Overall, SIDS were considered unsustainable if they failed at least two of three sectors. Projected water sustainability for 2050 was based on population growth and climate change effects on precipitation and per capita water availability. All SIDS failed the food sector, and four failed the energy sector. Water was considered the ultimate control for long-term sustainability. Five SIDS currently fail the water sector, but all but the largest two SIDS are likely to fail this sector by 2050. The role of poor governance and associated lack of long-term planning for population growth, disasters, and climate change, adaptative management strategies, infrastructure investment with an emphasis on nature-based solutions, decentralized energy grids emphasizing renewable energy, and local food production are clearly impediments for reaching sustainability goals for Caribbean SIDS.

Nowadays people demand for healthy, convenient, and wholesome foods. Double emulsions have attracted widespread attention in the food industry owing to their capability of encapsulating the compounds, fabricating polymersomes, and acting as fat replacers or sweetness enhancers in different foods. In this review, properties and their importance in the fabrication of double emulsions along with their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. In the lateral part of the manuscript, the instability mechanism and the effect of different variables on the stability of the double emulsions are reviewed. Finally, this review provides a glimpse of the recent food application of W/O/W double emulsions. Double emulsions have a better profile on the encapsulation of nutrients along with maintenance of the organoleptic quality of the food. The conventional emulsification techniques result in low encapsulation efficiency and poor monodispersity. With recent developments, different novel methods for the fabrication of double-emulsions have been developed such as glass capillary microfluidic devices, membrane emulsification, phase inversion techniques, etc. However, findings thus far indicate that the long-term stability of double emulsions remains a crucial issue that limits their wide application in food formulations. Therefore, further research should focus on finding innovative approaches to improve the stability of double emulsions.

This study aimed to quantitatively evaluate the performance of practical alternatives in modernization projects of water distribution in irrigation networks based on the water-food-energy nexus using the AHP-Entropy-WASPAS technique. Three methods of improved manual operation, decentralized automatic operation, and centralized automatic operation were developed under normal and water shortage operation scenarios and modeling the current status of water distribution in the main canal of the Rudasht irrigation network as a case study. Water-based, energy-based and food-based indicators were used to develop the nexus evaluation framework. The results showed that the average values of the water-food-energy nexus index in the manual operation method were estimated at 0.49 and 0.16 under normal and water shortage operation scenarios, respectively. These average values were estimated at 0.53 and 0.17 under normal and water shortage operation scenarios, respectively, by improving the method to the improved manual operation method. The decentralized automatic operation method improved these average values to 0.82 and 0.39 under normal and water shortage operation scenarios. Finally, using the centralized automatic operation method, these average values were 0.94 and 0.35 under normal and water shortage operation scenarios. Since the downstream secondary off-takes of the irrigation network receive no water even by upgrading the surface water distribution system to the decentralized automatic operation method under the water shortage operation scenario, it can be said that the performance of the centralized automatic operation method is more efficient than the decentralized automatic operation method due to the fair and uniform distribution of water in both normal and water shortage scenarios.

The program NEXUS Gains addresses key challenges of transforming water, energy, food and ecosystem (WEFE) systems in transboundary bread-basket basins in East and Southern Africa (Blue Nile and Limpopo basins), Central (Aral Sea basin) and South Asia (Ganges and Indus basin) in a changing world. The program particularly explores water resource management options to understand WEFE system interdependencies, trade-offs and synergies and develop more sustainable development pathways for all members society. The presentation will discuss alternative interventions to increase water productivity different sectors (irrigation, forestry, industries) across scales ranging from farm to watershed to river basin scales. Therefore, particular attention will be given to integrated water storage management in human built and natural infrastructure in South Asia and East Africa. The implications for hydrological process and water resources dynamics and wider environmental, social and economic systems are analyzed and related policy implications are discussed considering also climate change. | Non-PR | IFPRI5; 1 Fostering Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food Supply | EPTD

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