The challenge to produce more food to meet the growing world demand requires a careful, integrated and global approach, to secure the efficient use of land, water and energy at the global level, aimed at increasing productivity and food supply with production systems which are environmentally friendly. Nowadays in many regions the crop production is still developed under intensive production systems, which are deteriorating the natural resources and contributing to global warming. The purpose should be to move to more environmentally friendly production systems. To support that process it is proposed to improve the measurement of sustainable practices in crop production and to monitor the production systems in different regions to provide international comparisons and track performance over time. At the same time, trade is, and will be in the future crucial to cope with a global production system environmentally friendly providing suffice food to meet food security, given that regional production and consumption imbalances associated with regional differences in resource endowments are very relevant. However, world trade of agricultural products continues seriously limited by trade policies and could be worsened by new measures implemented by some countries during or after the COVID-19 crisis. Therefore, the G20 should promote policies and measures to facilitate dialogue and information exchange on supply and demand to foster agreements between food trading partners, based on a more open trading system, aimed at reconciling both objectives: global food security and environmental sustainability. | Non-PR | IFPRI5; DCA | MTID

The demand for water, energy, and food resources increased in tandem with the world's population, industrialization, and urbanization. Anthropogenic sources of environmental pollutants degrade the water resources while population expansion contributes to rising demand for non-renewable energy resources which further enhances the greenhouse gas emissions. Also, maintaining the food security/-safety is another challenge which needs to be addressed for securing ‘planetary public health’. The sustainability programs, pragmatic studies, and strategies from regulatory/scientific institutions attempt to reduce the depletion of these resources and mitigate environmental challenges however, the individualistic approaches proves to be inadequate. Therefore, the present review emphasizes the use of Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus as a tool to combat environmental degradation, address climate action, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this article, we investigate methodological paradigm and application of WEF Nexus in an inter-related framework through case studies on water resources, energy efficiency, urban food production, food waste reduction, cross-sectoral perspectives, and the circular economy. It has been widely observed that excessive exploitation of these resources influences the global food supply and demand, water availability, resilience in energy and socio-economic sector. Also, such perturbations in water, energy, and food sectors were found to be inextricably linked with climate change. The results further revealed that WEF nexus approach stimulates multilevel and inter-sectoral governance, thereby aiding to address the complexities and inefficiencies in achieving the SDGs. The prioritization of WEF Nexus strategy, especially under the event of COVID-19 can be a holistic approach to sustainably utilise natural resources to help achieve the environmental sustainability.

The global COVID-19 pandemic during 2020 has led to the infection of 25 million people, causing deaths to 850000 and a serious economic crisis. Despite the fact that due to the pandemic economic growth and production was decreased, leading to a decrease in pollution in general, some specific pollution have emerged as a result of efforts to fight COVID-19. In such situation water can be waived as means of enabling hygienic conditions and raw material for industry, while at the other side wastewater can be assumed as a media for infection spreading. In this context, food production, considering it from field to shelf, food can be affected and contaminated. Risk occurs when contaminated water is used for food production, or when people engaged in production are proven to be infected. Therefore, special care has to be taken respecting safety measures during drinking water preparation and food production, as well as conducting proper wastewater treatment.

Esta propuesta de preparación se centra en la recuperación verde posterior a la COVID-19 y en la importancia de diseñar esfuerzos de recuperación verde y resistente para la Seguridad Alimentaria en los países de América Latina, con beneficiarios directos como las instituciones públicas nacionales para la formulación de políticas públicas en los países seleccionados, incluidos los Ministerios/Secretarías de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (8), Agricultura (8) y Finanzas/Planificación (5), algunos de los cuales son Autoridades Nacionales Designadas. El objetivo central de esta propuesta es esbozar las vías para las estrategias de recuperación verde posteriores a COVID-19 en los sectores de la alimentación, la salud y el agua, apoyando los esfuerzos nacionales y regionales de los países destinatarios para fortalecer las innovaciones financieras y tecnológicas.

This article addresses food-energy-water-waste nexus optimization to alleviate the public health and environmental concerns from increasing food waste generation during the COVID-19 pandemic using waste-to-energy technologies. Food waste increase has become a severe global problem during the pandemic. It could alleviate health and environmental concerns by converting the food waste into electricity and heat through food-energy-water-waste nexus systems using waste-to-energy facilities, such as anaerobic digesters and combined heat and power units in wastewater treatment plants. To design efficient nexus systems, a multi-period multi-objective optimization model is proposed, while considering various impacts of the pandemic. A case study for New York State is presented. The optimized systems show a potential of reducing the food waste disposal amounts by 38%. The Pareto-optimal solutions illustrate a clear trade-off between the objectives. The minimum total cost is $27.1 million; the optimal unit processing profit is $11.9 per ton processed food waste. Spatial analyses reveal a clear correlation between facility selections and their processing capacities. Electricity price and biogas yield are the most important factors for the economic objectives, based on sensitivity analysis.

There is growing recognition that water insecurity – the inability to reliably access sufficient water for all household uses – is commonly experienced globally and has myriad adverse consequences for human well-being. The role of water insecurity in food insecurity and diet quality, however, has received minimal attention. Data are from panel surveys conducted during 2020–21 among adults involved in smallholder agriculture in Niger (n = 364, 3 rounds), Nigeria (n = 501, 5 rounds), Senegal (n = 501, 5 rounds), and Ghana (n = 543, 5 rounds). We hypothesized that household water insecurity (measured using the brief Household Water Insecurity Experiences Scale) would be associated with greater individual food insecurity (using 5 of the 8 Food Insecurity Experiences Scale items) and lower dietary diversity (using the Minimum Dietary Diversity Score for Women). At baseline, 37.1% of individuals were living in water-insecure households and of these, 90.6% had some experience of food insecurity. In multilevel mixed-effects regressions, individuals living in water-insecure households had 1.67 (95% CI: 1.47, 1.89) times higher odds of reporting any food insecurity experience and were estimated to consume 0.38-fewer food groups (95% CI: -0.50, -0.27) than those living in water-secure households. Experiences with suboptimal water access and use are associated with poor nutrition. The pathways by which water insecurity impacts nutrition should be identified. Global and national food and nutrition security policies could be strengthened by monitoring and developing strategies to address household water insecurity. | PR | IFPRI3; 1 Fostering Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food Supply; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all; GCAN | Natural Resources and Resilience (NRR); Transformation Strategies

There is growing recognition that water insecurity – the inability to reliably access sufficient water for all household uses – is commonly experienced globally and has myriad adverse consequences for human well-being. The role of water insecurity in food insecurity and diet quality, however, has received minimal attention. Data are from panel surveys conducted during 2020–21 among adults involved in smallholder agriculture in Niger (n = 364, 3 rounds), Nigeria (n = 501, 5 rounds), Senegal (n = 501, 5 rounds), and Ghana (n = 543, 5 rounds). We hypothesized that household water insecurity (measured using the brief Household Water Insecurity Experiences Scale) would be associated with greater individual food insecurity (using 5 of the 8 Food Insecurity Experiences Scale items) and lower dietary diversity (using the Minimum Dietary Diversity Score for Women). At baseline, 37.1% of individuals were living in water-insecure households and of these, 90.6% had some experience of food insecurity. In multilevel mixed-effects regressions, individuals living in water-insecure households had 1.67 (95% CI: 1.47, 1.89) times higher odds of reporting any food insecurity experience and were estimated to consume 0.38-fewer food groups (95% CI: -0.50, -0.27) than those living in water-secure households. Experiences with suboptimal water access and use are associated with poor nutrition. The pathways by which water insecurity impacts nutrition should be identified. Global and national food and nutrition security policies could be strengthened by monitoring and developing strategies to address household water insecurity.

Agri-food systems face multiple challenges. They must deal with prevailing structural weaknesses, partly deepened by the disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, civil conflicts, and climate change. Addressing structural weaknesses – such as inequitable access to healthy and nutritious food for all, loss of livelihoods and incomes, and increasing environmental shocks – requires not only technological, but also institutional innovations, as well as economic and policy responses. While development interventions often focus on technological innovations, they lack attention to the enabling policy environment and the political economy drivers necessary to achieve policy, economic, and social impact at the national level. In addition, solutions often fail to analyze the broader enabling environment in which policies are designed and implemented at the national level. A comprehensive understanding of the policy environment coupled with appropriate technological and institutional solutions can influence the success or failure of development interventions. However, political economy and policy analysis considerations are inadequately explored in the quest to transform food systems. Identifying the right policies and overcoming barriers to the implementation of development interventions fundamentally requires an understanding of the political economy and policy processes that shape policymaking. Despite numerous emerging approaches and frameworks for conducting political economy and policy analysis, practitioners and researchers working across food, land, and water systems lack a consolidated knowledge base. This Political Economy and Policy Analysis (PEPA) sourcebook aims to fill that knowledge gap. | PR | IFPRI2; 1 Fostering Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food Supply | Development Strategies and Governance (DSG); Transformation Strategies

Bakgrund I mars 2020 konstaterades att världen drabbats av en pandemi orsakad av SARS-CoV-2, vilket namngavs Covid-19. Många länder stängde ner och i Sverige uppmanades befolkningen att undvika sociala kontakter, jobba hemifrån och att inte vistas i butiker och köpcentrum i onödan. Som en konsekvens av detta skedde en förändring av människors inköpsbeteende och allt fler gick från att handla sin mat fysiskt i butik till att handla det mesta av sin mat online. Syfte Att utforska erfarenheter och upplevelser i barnfamiljer som övergått till onlinehandel av mat under Covid-19 pandemin i Sverige. Metod Studien använde sig av en kvalitativ studiedesign med halvstrukturerade intervjuer. Tio deltagare rekryterades med hjälp av ett bekvämlighets- och snöbollsurval. Intervjuerna spelades in och transkriberades verbatim och analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat Deltagarna upplevde att övergången till onlinehandel av mat under Covid-19 pandemin lett till ett förändrat inköpsbeteende med en ökad matplanering samt färre men större livsmedelsinköp som följd. Deltagarna beskrev även hur de köpte mer frukt och grönsaker och att impulsköpen av utrymmesmat minskat. De upplevda utmaningarna med onlinehandeln var att det gav sämre inspiration, variation och spontanitet jämfört med fysiska livsmedelsbutiker. Tidsbesparing, lägre matkostnader och ett minskat matsvinn var några av de positiva erfarenheter som framhölls av deltagarna. Slutsats Deltagarna upplevde att övergången till onlinehandel av mat hade lett till ett förändrat inköpsbeteende gällande handlingsfrekvens och inköpsmängd samt vad de valde att köpa och inte. Studien bidrar med ny information om hur en övergång till onlinehandel av mat kan påverka människors inköpsbeteende och livsmedelsinköp och bidrar till en ökad förståelse kring de bakomliggande mekanismerna för konsumenters matinköp online under extraordinära omständigheter. | Background In March 2020, it was determined that the world had been hit by a pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, which was named Covid-19. Many countries had lockdowns and in Sweden, the population was urged to avoid social contacts, work from home, and avoid unnecessary visits to stores and shopping centers. Consequently, a big change was seen in people's shopping behavior leading to a transition from buying food in a physical grocery store to buying food online. Objective To explore families' experiences and perceptions of the transition to online grocery shopping during the Covid-19 pandemic in Sweden. Method The study used a qualitative study design with semi-structured interviews. Ten participants were recruited with convenience and snowball sample techniques. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim and analyzed with qualitative content analysis. Results The respondents experienced that the transition to online grocery shopping had led to a change in their shopping behavior with increased food planning and fewer but larger food purchases as a result. The respondents also experienced that they bought more fruit and vegetables and less food with empty calories. The perceived challenges with online shopping were that it provided less inspiration, variety, and spontaneity compared to physical grocery stores. Time saving, lower food costs, and reduced food waste were some of the positive experiences highlighted by the respondents. Conclusion The respondents experienced that the transition to online grocery shopping had led to a change in their shopping behavior in regard to frequency, volume, and what they decided to buy and not. The study provides new information about how a transition to online grocery shopping can affect people's shopping behavior and food purchases. The results contribute to an immersed understanding of the underlying mechanisms for consumers' online grocery purchases under extraordinary circumstances.