This report documents the results of the national policy dialogue on “Towards Inclusive Canal Water Management for Resilience Agri-food Systems in Coastal Bangladesh”. The platform brought together key stakeholders from both national and local levels to make actionable pathways. The dialogue focused on deliberating inclusive canal water management strategies to enhance agri-food systems in Bangladesh's coastal regions. It showed key findings on the challenges and opportunities for resilient canal water management while seeking actionable policy pathways to address governance gaps in agri-food systems. Furthermore, the event emphasized strengthening the capacities of national, regional, and local actors to develop and implement nature-based, gender-equitable, and inclusive governance frameworks, ensuring long-term resilience and sustainability of the country’s agri-food systems. This event was organized by the Center for Natural Resource Studies, with support from the CGIAR Initiative on Asian Mega-Deltas.

This study investigates the determinants of access to safe water and reliable energy for households in Sudan using nationally representative data from a recent labor market survey. The results show that urbanization, education, and wealth significantly enhance the access households have to these essential services, while rural areas and less developed regions, particularly in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, face substantial challenges. Access to reliable energy correlates with better food security and health outcomes within households, and improved access to safe water significantly enhances the health of household members. Policy recommendations supported by these research results include targeted rural infrastructure investments, educational improvements, and regional interventions to address disparities in household access to safe water and reliable energy across Sudan.

Summary of ongoing PhD research presented as a poster at the University of Edinburgh Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies Annual PGR Conference, 23 April 2024

Presented at Jameel Observatory for Food Security Early Action Community of Practice meeting, Nairobi, 14-15 May 2024

An increasing number of people faces chronic water shortage, and 17% of watersheds suffer from overconsumption. Agriculture is the main water consumer globally, and irrigation comprises most of the agricultural water consumption. Irrigation more than doubled between 1960 and 2000. In many cases, water-intensive goods are produced in water-scarce countries, and virtual (irrigation) water is traded by agribusinesses. Food products potentially have an impact on local water resources in the production area. The water scarcity footprint of products can be calculated by applying the AWARE method within the life cycle assessment (LCA). AWARE is a relatively new method but is already recommended by several influential organisations (e.g. the European Commission), and it will probably therefore be applied widely in the coming years. The goal of this thesis was to study how the AWARE method compares to other water scarcity footprint methods in LCA for food products, study the water scarcity footprint of three common food products in Finland and the hotspots of the food products, and identify further LCA research needs for improving the performance of the chain and for harmonised LCA. Three food case studies were selected to assist in answering the research questions: milk (Article I), coffee (Article II), and broiler meat (Article III) produced for the Finnish market. Basic knowledge of the suitability of the AWARE method for a food product was produced in the milk case study. The water scarcity footprint of all three foodstuffs was assessed, and hotspots were identified. The interpretation of the results was supported by a detailed analysis of the challenges especially in the life cycle inventory phase and some further sensitivity analyses. Finally, recommendations for compiling good-quality life cycle inventory (LCI) data in water scarcity assessment to support the achievement of the LCA study’s goal were made. To support the analysis, the new terms ‘internal development LCA’ and ‘external harmonised LCA’ were proposed. An internal development life cycle assessment refers to a life cycle assessment that aims to evaluate the environmental effects of a specific product or service to support the development of the environmental performance of the product. External harmonised LCA is needed when comparisons, benchmarking, or public propositions are executed. In contrast with internal development LCA, the methods or their application cannot be selected freely according to the goal of the study in external harmonised LCA, but specific rules for LCA, Environmental Declaration Criteria, or Product Category Rules are followed. The LCIs in the case studies were analysed, and observations were made especially concerning the following aspects: identifying relevant processes and elementary waterflows; data collection methods; assumptions due to missing data or default origins; raw data modification methods; allocation methods and the link between inventory and impact assessment. A commonly observed challenge was the lack of knowledge of the origins of the inputs. A general conclusion about the AWARE method is that the water scarcity footprint result reflected both water consumption and the characteristics of the region in the form of a characterisation factor. This dissertation work’s results support the claim that the indicator has a clear and understandable physical meaning. Food product chain hotspots were recognised. If irrigation was applied, it dominated the water scarcity results. Irrigation dominated the water scarcity results of primary production, but even without irrigation, the magnitude of primary production was remarkable. The consumption stage may also be important for the water scarcity footprint. Water scarcity footprints have a strong spatial nature. The effect of geographical location on water scarcity footprint is especially important. Because of the regional character of water scarcity footprint, it seems it is generally impossible to define any normal or typical level of water scarcity footprint result of a certain food product, but products from different origins will have different water scarcity footprints. However, with stronger evidence in the scientific literature, it is likely that the typical water scarcity footprints of certain food items produced in certain regions can be defined in the future. According to the results of this thesis, improved primary data production and traceability to determine the origins of the inputs is needed in many cases to improve the results’ accuracy. The spatial nature of the water scarcity footprint considerably increases the need for regionalised (spatially differentiated) data. The production of geographically representative datasets is time- and resource-consuming work, but it is necessary for improving the accuracy of LCA studies applying AWARE. All data should be compatible with the definition of consumptive water in ISO 14046. Using theoretically modelled data instead of primary data may result in inaccuracy. This is an important question, especially with the volume of irrigation water, because the relative share of water for irrigation may be remarkable if included in the production chain. In harmonised LCA, the calculation rules should guarantee the harmonisation, at least at a reasonable level, but product category rules (PCRs) do not necessarily instruct the use of AWARE at a detailed level. Regarding the water scarcity effect, the PCR should list when primary data must be produced about the input, and when information about the origin of the input is mandatory, even if there is no other basic information about the product. In particular, the evaluation of irrigation water must be instructed. | Kasvava osa maailman väestöstä kärsii kroonisesta vesiniukkuudesta ja 17 % vesistöalueista kärsii liiallisesta vedenkulutuksesta. Maailmanlaajuisesti maatalous on merkittävin vedenkuluttaja, ja suurin osa maatalouden vedenkulutuksesta johtuu kasteluveden käytöstä. Vesi-intensiivisiä tuotteita tuotetaan usein vesiniukoissa maissa ja virtuaalista (kastelu)vettä ostetaan ja myydään maataloustuotteiden myötä. Tuotteiden vesiniukkuusvaikutuksia voidaan mitata elinkaariarvioinnissa (LCA) AWARE-vaikutustenarviointimenetelmällä. AWARE on suhteellisen uusi menetelmä, mutta useat vaikutusvaltaiset organisaatiot (esim. Euroopan komissio) suosittelevat sitä jo, ja siksi menetelmää tultaneen todennäköisesti soveltamaan laajalti tulevina vuosina. Tämän väitöskirjatyön tavoitteena oli tutkia, miten AWARE-menetelmä vertautuu muihin vesiniukkuuden arviointimenetelmiin elintarvikkeiden elinkaariarvioinnissa, tutkia kolmen Suomessa yleisen elintarvikkeen eli maidon, kahvin ja broilerinlihan vesiniukkuusvaikutusta ja niiden ongelmakohtia, sekä tunnistaa lisätutkimustarpeita ketjun ympäristösuorituskyvyn parantamiseksi ja harmonisoidun elinkaariarvioinnin tekemiseksi. Kaikkien kolmen elintarvikkeen vesiniukkuusvaikutukset arvioitiin ja vesiniukkuuden kannalta oleelliset tuotantovaiheet tunnistettiin. Tulokset osoittavat, että jos kastelua käytettiin, se hallitsi vesiniukkuusvaikutustuloksia, mutta ilman kasteluakin alkutuotannon merkitys oli huomattava. Myös kulutusvaihe voi olla tärkeä vesiniukkuusvaikutuksen kannalta. Maantieteellisen sijainnin vaikutus veden niukkuuteen on erityisen tärkeä. Vesiniukkuusvaikutusten arviointi on mahdollista elintarvikkeille, mutta vesiniukkuuden alueellisen luonteen vuoksi on erittäin haastavaa määritellä yleisesti tietyn ruoka-aineen normaalia tai tyypillistä vesiniukkuusvaikutuksen tasoa, jos sitä tuotetaan eri puolilla maailmaa. Monissa tapauksissa tarvitaan enemmän primääritiedon tuotantoa ja syötteiden alkuperän jäljitettävyyttä, jotta tulosten tarkkuus paranee. Vesiniukkuusvaikutuksen alueellinen luonne lisää huomattavasti alueellisesti eriytetyn tiedon tarvetta. Maantieteellisesti edustavien aineistojen tuottaminen on aikaa ja resursseja vievää työtä, mutta se on välttämätöntä, jotta ymmärrys ruuan vaikutuksesta veden niukkuuteen lisääntyy. | ei saavutettava

10 Pág. | In order to valorise winemaking grape stalks, subcritical water extraction at 160 and 180 °C has been carried out to obtain phenolic-rich extracts useful for developing active food packaging materials. Red (R) and white (W) varieties (from Requena, Spain) were used, and thus, four kinds of extracts were obtained. These were characterised as to their composition, thermal stability and antioxidant and antibacterial activity. The extracts were incorporated at 6 wt% into polylactic acid (PLA) films and their effect on the optical and barrier properties of the films and their protective effect against sunflower oil oxidation was analysed. Carbohydrates were the major compounds (25-38%) in the extracts that contained 3.5-6.6% of phenolic compounds, the R extracts being the richest, with higher radical scavenging capacity. Every extract exhibited antibacterial effect against Escherichia coli and Listeria innocua, while PLA films with extracts preserved sunflower oil against oxidation. | This study forms part of the AGROALNEXT programme (AGROALNEXT/2022/026) and was supported by MCIN with funding from the European Union NextGenerationEU (PRTR-C17·I1) and the project CIPROM/2021/071 (Generalitat Valenciana). | Peer reviewed

This study investigates the determinants of access to safe water and reliable energy for households in Sudan using nationally representative data from a recent labor market survey. The results show that urbanization, education, and wealth significantly enhance the access households have to these essential services, while rural areas and less developed regions, particularly in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, face substantial challenges. Access to reliable energy correlates with better food security and health outcomes within households, and improved access to safe water significantly enhances the health of household members. Policy recommendations supported by these research results include targeted rural infrastructure investments, educational improvements, and regional interventions to address disparities in household access to safe water and reliable energy across Sudan.