Jonathan Mockshell and Danielle Resnick, authors of a new Political Economy and Policy Analysis (PEPA) sourcebook, set out how governments can make use of a step-by-step guide to account for power dynamics, conflicting interests, coalitions and networks when developing agrifood policies. The book draws upon dozens of frameworks and tools to support policy development that addresses the dual challenges of food security and climate change. | Non-PR | IFPRI5; 5 Strengthening Institutions and Governance | Development Strategies and Governance (DSG); Transformation Strategies

Achieving the objectives of sustainable development in water and agri-food systems requires the utilisation of decision-support tools in stakeholder-driven processes to construct and simulate various scenarios and evaluate the outcomes of associated policy interventions. While it is common practice to involve stakeholders in participatory modelling processes, their comprehensive documentation and the lessons learned remain scarce. In this paper, we share our experience of engaging stakeholders throughout the entire system dynamics modelling process. We draw on two projects implemented in the Volta River Basin, West Africa, to understand the dynamics of water and agri-food systems under changing environmental and socioeconomic conditions. We outline eight key insights and lessons as practical guides derived from each stage of the participatory modelling process, including the pre-workshop stage, problem definition, model conceptualization, simulation model formulation, model testing and verification, and policy design and evaluation. Our findings demonstrate that stakeholders can actively contribute to all phases of the system dynamics modelling process, including parameter estimation, sensitivity analysis, and numerical simulation experiments. However, we encountered notable challenges, including the time-intensive nature of the process, the struggle to reach a consensus on the modelled problem, and the difficulty of translating the conceptual model into a simulation model using stock and flow diagrams – all of which were addressed through a structured facilitation process. While the projects were anchored in the specific context of West Africa, the key lessons and insights highlighted have broader significance, particularly for researchers employing PSDM in regions characterised by multifaceted human-environmental systems and where stakeholder involvement is crucial for holistic understanding and effective policy interventions. This paper contributes practical guidance for future efforts with participatory modelling, particularly in regions worldwide grappling with sustainable development challenges in water and agri-food systems, and where stakeholder involvement is crucial for holistic understanding of the multiple challenges and for designing effective policy interventions.

The United Nations Member States created a common roadmap for sustainability and development in 2015. The UN-SDGs are included in the 2030 Plan as an immediate call to action from all nations in the form of global partnerships. To date, a handful of countries have achieved substantial progress toward the targets. The climate–water–energy–food nexus is being advocated as a conceptual method for achieving sustainable development. According to research, frameworks for adopting nexus thinking have not been the best solution to clearly or sufficiently include thoughts on sustainability. Therefore, there is much room for other solutions; these are in the form of newer Fourth Industrial Revolution digital technologies, as well as transitioning from a linear economy to a circular economy. In this paper, we come to understand these two models and their linkages between climate, water, energy, and food; their application and challenges, and, finally, the effects on the UN-SDGs. It was found that both circular economy and newer Fourth Industrial Revolution digital technologies can positively support the nexus as well as directly address the UN-SDGs, specifically SDGs 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, and 13.

Green and blue infrastructure (GBI) is an innovative strategy to tackle food-water-energy (FWE) nexus issues. GBI can provide the benefits of food production, energy saving and generation, waterlogging control, rainwater cleansing and harvesting. Significant efforts have been devoted to measuring the implications of GBI on FWE nexus. However, there is little research to simulate the multiple linkages between GBI and FWE nexus in urban areas, and the lack of a unified methodology framework also easily leads to an understanding bias of their connections and makes it challenging to compare the results. Focusing on the prior published literature, this study clarifies the interactions between GBI and FWE nexus and reviews the methods to quantify the implications of GBI on FWE nexus in cities, including FWE-related benefits, life cycle environmental impacts, and avoided upstream environmental footprints induced by FWE-related benefits. It is revealed that most studies focus on the FWE-related benefits or (and) life cycle environmental impacts of GBI from a silo perspective. Researchers pay little attention to the avoided trans-boundary environmental footprints by GBI, and carbon footprint is the greatest concern in the existing research. There is little evidence on comprehensive quantifications regarding multiple impacts of GBI on FWE nexus at the urban scale. The review outlines methods to simulate the linkages between GBI and FWE nexus and calls for a holistic methodological framework to apply at the urban scale. Such assessment practices would make sense for FWE-oriented resilience planning and governance for urban GBI implementation.

In what is proclaimed as the ‘fourth industrial revolution’, digital innovation is thought to have the potential to provide solutions to key challenges facing food production and consumption together with the support of sustainability of the underpinning support of land, and water systems. Nowhere is this more the case in less-industrialised countries, which largely have agrarian based economies. Applications of digital innovations include faster and more reliable communication, better collection, analysis, and storage of data, enhancing democratic processes and transparency in governance, affordable financial services and can provide the basis for decision support. However, there is a risk that people with less formal education and skills and little resource endowments as well as particular groups of people such as women will be excluded from participating or benefiting from digital innovation, the so-called digital divide. In addition, there is a risk that people, communities, and societies may be disadvantaged or harmed by digital innovation processes. Digital inclusivity within food, land and water systems are approaches in digital innovation need to include the differing needs and resources of men, women, youth, indigenous communities who produce most the world’s food in smallholder land holdings. Here we provide the state-of-the-art evidence from peer reviewed literature and other literature in support of these statements. On the basis of this and our wider anecdotal experience we present, a holistic multi-dimensional framework for digital inclusivity. The aim of the digital inclusivity index (and supporting tools) is to provide a resource to guide to transform and change development and application of digital innovations. Specifically, it provides governments, funders, researchers, and development agencies a framework on how to assess, minimise and lessen exclusion from digital innovation. This is achieved through increasing awareness of the characteristics of digital exclusion, recognising the needs of the actors that they target with digital interventions which are more inclusive, making interventions more participatory and mitigating any potential harm that can be caused by digital innovation. We also argue that the approach to digital innovation needs to be set within the context of a wide ranging ‘digital ecosystem’ where different actors contribute knowledge and resources, and digital innovation goes beyond the adoption and use of technologies to include changes in preexisting social arrangement and institutions.

On May 12 in Abuja, Nigeria, two CGIAR initiatives – Fragility, Conflict, and Migration (FCM) and National Policies and Strategies (NPS) – brought together policymakers, researchers, and representatives from the private sector and civil society to discuss how to advance food systems resilience amid crises while empowering women and youth, in the context of Nigeria. The workshop featured presentations from six other CGIAR research initiatives working in Nigeria and fostered lively discussions. Participants delved into cutting-edge research outcomes, identifying evidence gaps and potential collaborative avenues. | Non-PR | IFPRI5; 1 Fostering Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food Supply; 3 Building Inclusive and Efficient Markets, Trade Systems, and Food Industry; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; 5 Strengthening Institutions and Governance; G Cross-cutting gender theme; Capacity Strengthening | Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion (PGI); Development Strategies and Governance (DSG); Markets, Trade, and Institutions (MTI); Food and Nutrition Policy; Transformation Strategies

On May 12 in Abuja, Nigeria, two CGIAR initiatives – Fragility, Conflict, and Migration (FCM) and National Policies and Strategies (NPS) – brought together policymakers, researchers, and representatives from the private sector and civil society to discuss how to advance food systems resilience amid crises while empowering women and youth, in the context of Nigeria. The workshop featured presentations from six other CGIAR research initiatives working in Nigeria and fostered lively discussions. Participants delved into cutting-edge research outcomes, identifying evidence gaps and potential collaborative avenues.

PhDENV | Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences | In the past few decades, South Africa's freshwater resources have faced a severe problem of eutrophication and frequent occurrence of cyanobacterial blooms. This is of great concern since some of the cyanobacteria species have the potential to produce cyanotoxins that pose health risks to livestock and humans. Recently, there have been evidence of the toxic effects of microcystins (MCs) and cylindrospermopsin (CYN) on terrestrial plants including plants used for food. Ever since, the use of surface waters contaminated with cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins for agricultural purposes has been receiving growing attention. In hypereutrophic waters, such as commonly found in impoundments around major metros in South Africa, MCs co-exist with other pollutants such as metals and Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonates (LAS), and these can have synergistic effects on the crops irrigated by such waters and exacerbate the human health risks posed by MCs. The current study investigated the bioaccumulation and effects of MCs on food plants, developed and evaluated the use of crosslinked chitosan (sorbents) passive samplers to monitor the bioavailability of MCs in water intended for irrigation. The findings are presented in six major sections. The first section detailed literature on the impacts of cyanotoxins on food plants with emphasis on the South African context. The reviewed literature demonstrated the potential of exposure of irrigated plants to multiple stressors such as MCs, LAS, metals, endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and high levels of dissolved salts around South Africa’s urban provinces. The literature also showed that South Africa lacks research on human exposure to cyanotoxins via irrigated crops and regulations to manage emerging pollutants such as MCs in irrigation water. Such lack of data and policies thus prompts an urgent need for local evidence-based research to guide policies and guidelines on cyanotoxins in irrigation water, food plants and, water used for livestock. In the second part of the thesis, the bioaccumulation of MCs in parts of the plants Brassica oleracea (cabbage) and Solanum tuberosum (common potato) was investigated in pot-culture experiments. Water used to irrigate the plants was collected from Roodeplaat Dam and had total MCs ranging from 0.12–2.84 μg L-1. The pH for the water was slightly alkaline (pH 7.29±0.71 to 10.03±0.29) whilst the Electrical Conductivity (EC) ranged from 296.67±13.87 to 878.67±42.44 μS cm-1. The findings showed that the two plants can bioaccumulate MCs to concerning levels when irrigated with water derived from Roodeplaat Dam. MCs accumulation levels in the two tested plants ranged from 0.00142 to 0.136 mg kg-1 DW for individual MC congeners. These findings demonstrated that terrestrial food crops can bioaccumulate MCs to levels that can pose human-health risks. v The third part of the thesis investigated the uptake and accumulation of metals Al, Mn and Sr in distinct parts of the plants Brassica oleracea and Solanum tuberosum in the presence of the anionic surfactant LAS. Pot-culture experiments were conducted to assess the effect of LAS on the accumulation of the three metals by watering the plant with Roodeplaat dam water containing 3.48 mg L-1 of LAS and Mn (0.257mgL-1), Al (0.6mgL-1) and Sr (0.16mgL-1). Findings indicated that the presence of LAS, in the irrigation water, did not enhance the uptake of Sr, Mn and Al by the two plants as demonstrated by the comparable levels of the metals in plants exposed to the metals in presence and absence of LAS. The fourth section investigated the uptake and the accumulation of MCs in distinct parts of the plants B. oleracea and S. tuberosum in the presence of the anionic surfactant LAS. Pot-culture experiments were conducted with the two plant species watered Roodeplaat dam water containing 3.48 mg L-1 of LAS and MCs with mean concentrations of: MC-LR: 10.47±3.879; MC-RR: 6.158± 4.127 and MC-YR: 8.160 ± 2.544 μg L-1. Findings indicated that the presence of LAS in the irrigation water at the levels investigated did not enhance the uptake of MCs by the two plants, even though in some cases the levels of MCs bio-accumulated by the two plants exceeded WHO-recommended tolerable daily intake (TDI). These findings imply that, the tested levels of LAS and MCs did not have any synergic effects on the two plant species. The fifth part of the thesis focused on the synthesis of a composite of glutaraldehyde-crosslinked chitosan and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (ChMWCNT) for application in the Solid Phase Adsorption Toxin Tracking (SPATT) for monitoring MCs in freshwaters. Batch experiments were conducted to evaluate the adsorption efficiency of the composite. The composite was found to be efficient in adsorbing MC-LR showing 97% removal and maximum adsorption capacity of 4.639 μg g-1 under optimized conditions of 5 μg L-1 of MC-LR, adsorbent dose of 0.03g 5 mL-1, and contact time of 30 mins. For desorption, 100% methanol was most effective, with efficiency of 84.71 %. When applied for the adsorption of MCs in raw dam water, the composite was saturated within two days of exposure and effectively adsorbed and desorbed three congeners tested in the order MC-LR>MC-RR>MC-YR. The last part of the thesis evaluated the field applicability of the newly synthesised glutaraldehyde crosslinked chitosan hydrogel (ChGLA) and the composite of glutaraldehyde-crosslinked chitosan and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (ChMWCNT) in a SPATT bag format and compare them to the commonly used DIAION HP20 resin. The constructed SPATT samplers were deployed in canals and farm dams around Roodeplaat and Hartbeespoort Dam sites. The findings elucidated a good vi correlation between the MCs detected by the two newly synthesized sorbents (ChGLA and ChMWCNT) and grab samples. The detected total MCs for the ChGLA samplers were: 0.003 and 1.742 (μg g-1) and for the ChMWCNT samplers 0.006 and 3.300 (μg g-1) (lowest and highest respectively). In conclusion, the two plants were found to accumulate MCs to levels that can pose human-health risks when water derived from the Roodeplaat Dam was used for irrigation. The effects of other pollutants such LAS found in hypereutrophic water bodies on the uptake and accumulation of MCs in food plants was for the first times tested on terrestrial food plants. The findings showed that the presence of LAS had no impact on the uptake of MCs and heavy metals such as Al, Mn and Sr. For the first time, chitosan-based sorbents were synthesized and applied in SPATT for MCs. The use of the chitosan sorbents demonstrated a lot of promise for the monitoring of MCs in water and can possibly be used as an early warning sign for the presence of MCs in irrigation water derived from eutrophicated impoundments in South Africa. | National Research Foundation (NRF)

The Water-ecosystems-food Nexus is a powerful framework developed for analyzing complex interlinkages among natural resource domains and overcoming "siloed" management practices. Multi-actor participatory approaches are increasingly recognized in Nexus research as the most effective way to identify trade-off solutions between divergent interests. Despite this acknowledged potential, the active engagement of stakeholders for the co-creation of knowledge is still limited to date, missing the opportunity for innovation processes and policy designs to be grounded in context-specific knowledge and experiences. This paper outlines the methodological framework developed to integrate stakeholder analysis and participatory tools for exploring Nexus challenges in a pilot area in Tarquinia, Italy, where a multi-stakeholder group was set up encompassing several categories at different levels, from policymakers and authorities to farmers and other end users. Systematic methodologies to target, analyze, and actively engage stakeholders were applied and multi-domain participatory tools were developed, i.e., stakeholder analysis and mapping, learning and action alliance, participatory system dynamic modelling, which broaden the agreement on potential locally-tailored solutions for sustainable farming practices and integrated management of natural resources. Mutual learning activities, tapping into actors' deep understanding of specific local dynamics, served to better frame the complexity of the Nexus and build a common understanding of local societal challenges as well as of potential innovations in farming practices, land, and water management. The methodological innovation of integrating stakeholder mapping and analysis with relevant spatial information from participatory activities, provides the fundamental baseline for spatially explicit scenario analysis in the area, ultimately increasing the relevance and transferability of the Nexus findings.