The current global developments have the potential to cause a ‘perfect storm’ at the core of the Anthropocene: the Food-Energy-Water-Nexus. To discuss the ethical consequences of these developments, i.e., insufficient access to the life sustaining nexus resources, the analysis is focused on Rawls' theory of justice and its implementation in Germany with a special focus on the FEW nexus. Rawls stresses in his theory of justice the prominent meaning of institutions for a fair society to meet societal challenges and to meet the challenge of our time: a stable and just society.Hence, the realization of his ideas in Germany is scrutinized and income tax and value added tax are interpreted in the sense of Douglas North and John Rawls as institutions and formal rules of society. This paper focuses on taxes as the most important institutional incentive to organize and structure the political, social and economic cooperation and analyses how these incentives affect selected German households (all households, singles, single man and woman, and couples) with respect to income and FEW expenditures.The relevant income and usage data sample (Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichprobe (EVS)) for Germany is used for the analysis of the distribution of income types, FEW expenditures and the revenues of income tax and value added tax, i.e., the main instruments to manage the challenges of the FEW nexus. Therefore two distribution measures have been used: the dispersion of income, taxes and FEW expenditures and their skewness. Five household groups were selected for this analysis: All households, all single households, the single women households, the single men households, as well as the households of couples. The EVS data sample allows the analysis of consequences of the current societal conditions on the various households and thus serves to provide a deeper understanding of the differences between singles and couples but also between single women and men.

As bio-ethanol is developing rapidly, its impacts on food security, water security and the environment begin to receive worldwide attention, especially within the Water–Energy–Food nexus framework. The aim of this study is to present an integrated method of assessing sweet sorghum-based ethanol potential in China in compliance with the Water–Energy–Food nexus principles. Life cycle assessment is coupled with the DSSAT (the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer) model and geographic information technology to evaluate the spatial distribution of water consumption, net energy gain and Greenhouse Gas emission reduction potentials of developing sweet sorghum-based ethanol on marginal lands instead of cultivated land in China. Marginal lands with high water stress are excluded from the results considering their unsuitability of developing sweet sorghum-based ethanol due to possible energy–water conflicts. The results show that the water consumption, net energy gain and Greenhouse Gas emission reduction of developing sweet sorghum-based ethanol in China are evaluated as 348.95 billion m3, 182.62 billion MJ, and 2.47 million t carbon per year, respectively. Some regions such as Yunnan Province in south China should be given priority for sweet sorghum-based ethanol development, while Jilin Province and Heilongjiang Province need further studies and assessment.

The water-energy-food security nexus concept is a widely recognized analytical approach to consider and achieve sustainable development goals. However, the water-energy-food security nexus concept has mostly been analyzed at higher scales in a top-down manner, while examples of bottom-up and local scale applications remain limited. Breaching this gap, the research presented in this paper describes and assesses the water-energy-food nexus from a smallholder farm household perspective in the context of rural Ethiopia through a gender-specific lens. We adopted the “Actors, Resources, Dynamics and Interactions” participatory approach to co-develop a mental model of this nexus concept. Using this approach, we were able to examine the key elements and interlinkages among major nexus related resources that affect management according to gender. The results indicate that there are four aspects that differentiate between male and female farm household management with respect to the water-energy-food nexus. These differences include gender specific productive roles, perceptions of target resources, access to external actors, and decision making with respect to target resource management and utilization, which may affect the dynamics and governance of important components of the water-energy-food nexus.

CITATION: Seeliger, L., et al. 2018. Applying the water-energy-food nexus to farm profitability in the Middle Breede Catchment, South Africa. South African Journal of Science, 114(11/12), Art. #5062, doi:10.17159/sajs.2018/5062. | The original publication is available at http://sajs.co.za | The water-energy-food nexus has emerged as a useful concept to understand the multiple interdependencies that exist between the water, energy and food sectors. The nexus is an ambitious attempt to work across disciplines and scales to understand the workings of these complex systems. It is, however, criticised for being more of a general framework than a practical methodology because of the vast amount of data it would need to make real-life contributions to sustainable development. We show how the nexus approach, when used within a farm budget model, can transform the problem focus in water governance. By changing the relationship among water, energy and food production of a farm, profitability is significantly changed. The water-energy-food nexus debate is discussed within the context of the South African water sector, particularly the Breede River Catchment. Working from within the farm budget model, we demonstrate the impact of moving from an irrigation canal system that requires electricity for pumping, to a gravity-fed piped irrigation system in the Middle Breede River. The finding is that the water-energy-food nexus has the potential to unlock groundbreaking solutions to complex problems in agricultural water management when used in appropriate modelling systems. | https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/5062 | Publisher's version

International Conference on Policies for Water and Food Security in Dry Areas/ Highlights from Day 1 | Communication Team ICARDA. (29/6/2013). International Conference on Policies for Water and Food Security in Dry Areas: Highlights from Day 1, in "News and Views", pp.1-2

A kinetic spectrophotometric method for determining residues of insecticide diflubenzuron 1(4-chlorphenyl)-3-(2,6-diflubenzoyl)urea (DFB) has been developed and validated. Kinetic method was based on the inhibitory effect of DFB on the oxidation reaction of sulfanilic acid (SA) by hydrogen peroxide in the presence of Co 2+ ions in a phosphate buffer, which was monitored at 370 nm. DFB can be measured in the concentration interval 0.102 – 3.40 μg mL -1 and 3.40 – 23.80 μg mL -1 . The detection and quantification limits of the method were calculated according to the 3σ criteria and found to be 0.077 μg mL -1 and 0.254 μg Ml -1 , respectively. The relative standard deviations for five replicate determinations of 0.102, 1.70 and 3.40 μg mL -1 DFB were 2.08, 1.22 and 1.21 %, respectively, for the first concentration interval, and the recovery percentage values were from 94.12 to 97.35 %. HPLC method was used as a parallel method to verify results of the kinetic method. The kinetic method was successfully applied to determine diflubenzuron concentrations in spiked water and baby food samples after solid phase extraction of the samples. The F and t values at 95% confidence level are lower than the theoretical ones, confirming agreement of the developed and the HPLC method.

Bioenergy from cassava is a promising alternative energy source for both energy supply and the mitigation of greenhouse gases. However, major global trends, such as climate change and competing landuse patterns, pose substantial risks to the sustainable development of bioenergy. The main purpose of this study was to assess the sustainable development of bioenergy from cassava, considering landuse change and climate change with a biogeochemical process model within the &ldquo:water-energy-food&rdquo: nexus framework. The results showed that the land resources that were suitable for the development of cassava bioenergy have continuously decreased in China since 1990. At the same time, the climate has also undergone significant changes, with temperature showing an increasing trend, and precipitation showing a decreasing trend. With the influences of both landuse change and climate change, the total bioenergy of cassava showed a downward trend. In China, the potential bioenergy production for the year 1990, 2000, and 2010 was 6075 PJ, 5974 PJ, and 4399 PJ, respectively. Compared to 1990, the bioenergy production in 2010 decreased by 1676.40 million GJ, which equals 57 million tons of standard coal. In addition, the water footprint of bioenergy from cassava was discussed. After considering changes to landuse, climate, and water footprint, it was concluded that Guangxi was the most suitable place to develop cassava bioenergy, followed by Fujian, Guangdong, and Yunnan.

Water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) double emulsions are complex liquid dispersions employed to entrap, protect and control the release of different substances such as minerals in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and food. The present paper proposes a simple and fast analytical procedure for silicon determination in double emulsion samples formulated for the supplementation of silicon in different food products. Silicon determination was performed by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) at the main analytical line (251.611 nm) using a high-resolution continuum source instrument. The introduction of the sample in the spectrometer in a continuous or discontinuous mode and the influence of double emulsion matrix on silicon absorbance signals were investigated. At the optimized conditions, the double emulsion samples were analysed using silicon standards in ultrapure water for calibration. The limits of detection (LODs) were 0.04 and 0.11 mg L and the upper limits of silicon linear working ranges were up to 23 and 70 mg L for continuous and discontinuous sample introduction modes, respectively. Silicon spiked double emulsion samples were analysed for validation purposes. The good recoveries (within 95–105%) demonstrated the suitability of the proposed method. | Peer Reviewed

Objetivou-se avaliar o consumo de água ofertado por bebedouros e provenientes das dietas via cocho em ovinos alimentados com silagens de diferentes forrageiras tropicais do Semiárido. Foram utilizados 32 cordeiros sem padrão de racial definido, com idade média de seis meses e peso corporal inicial médio de 17,61±2,63 kg, distribuídos em um delineamento inteiramente casualizado recebendo silagens de 4 forrageiras (erva-sal, capim buffel, gliricídia e pornunça) e 8 repetições. O experimento teve duração de 59 dias. As dietas foram fornecidas, às 9h30 e 15h30, ajustando-se a quantidade oferecida de forma a permitir sobras de 10%, sendo estas coletadas diariamente para determinação de matéria seca (MS), matéria mineral (MM), proteína bruta (PB), extrato etéreo (EE), carboidratos totais (CT), fibra em detergente neutro corrigida para cinzas e proteína (FDNcp), fibra em detergente ácido (FDA), lignina (LIG), carboidratos não-fibrosos (CNF), celulose (CEL) e hemicelulose (HEM). O consumo de água foi determinado pela ingestão de água via bebedouro (IAVB), ingestão de água via alimentação (IAVA) e ingestão total de água (ITA). Verificou-se que os animais alimentados com dieta contendo silagem de erva-sal apresentaram maior consumo (P<0,05) de água ofertada no bebedouro (4,466 kg/dia) e maior consumo de água total (5,383 kg/dia), já os animais alimentados com dietas contendo silagem de gliricídia (1,267 kg/dia) e pornunça (1,143 kg/dia) ingeriram mais água proveniente da dieta (P<0,05). Cordeiros alimentados com silagem de erva-sal necessitam de maior ingestão de água para suprir seu requerimento hídrico

Ethiopia has been challenged by multidimensional poverty. However, it has the potential to minimize the threat through an integrated multipurpose development process. In this regard, hydropower has a significant role to reduce energy poverty and enhance the multipurpose use of natural resources efficiency. Hydropower is a source of clean, sustainable and renewable energy. It has a contribution to reducing carbon emission and maintaining environmental sustainability. In Ethiopia, it is the major source of electricity. The country is rich in natural resources, including water to produce energy, however, electricity supply is still uncertain. The data shows that the country has the potential to produce 50,000 MW energy from water resources. Yet, it exploited 3,822 MW in 2018, approximately 7.6 % of its potential. Moreover, the country faces issues with energy security. Additionally, water and food supply also face an uncertain future. In this case, the country has planned the growth and transformation plan I and II for 2015 and 2020 to increase the energy production to 10,000 MW and 17,000 MW energy respectively. Consequently, the government launched different multipurpose hydropower plant projects. This project focuses on the multipurpose use of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, particularly for the sustainable energy-water-food-ecosystem service nexus at the national level. I applied the combination of methods such as the energy-water-food-ecosystem nexus, the SWOT analysis and the sustainability assessment as they are suitable for the complexity of such a project. Indeed, the GERD has benefits for the country in producing renewable and clean energy, generating income and increasing the water storage capacity at the national level. However, the project neglected the values of ecosystem services integration with the dam and its sectors. As a result, the dam affected the existed terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystem. Therefore, the GERD had not been the well-prepared plan that considers institutional cooperation and sectoral integration to use for multipurpose function and its sustainability. In these regards, unless the dam to take proper management of the project and natural resources, the hydropower plant would not have been generating sustainable energy production. | <p>The paper shows that how to use the reservoir hydropower plant for multipurpose, such as for energy, water, food, ecosystem services integration at local level</p>