One of the key components essential to the productivity of small-scale farmers who secured farms through the land redistribution programme in South Africa is access to reliable sources of water for irrigation. In this study, we deployed a stakeholder-oriented qualitative research methodology to understand the extent to which land reform farming schemes in Bela-Bela and Greater Sekhukhune have been able to access water and use it to enhance their agricultural production. We were keen to identify and articulate the water-related challenges and missing ingredients for successful agricultural production on the new farming schemes. The study found that access to water for irrigated agriculture is not guaranteed for most of the emerging farmers and they do not have the finance needed to invest in sustainable water supply systems for irrigation. As a result, the majority of the farmers in our study sample have not been able to realize any meaningful agricultural production, with their farming schemes being either underutilized or not functioning at all. Other key challenges include lack of finance, high costs of electricity, and lack of farming knowledge among the emerging farmers. The paper concludes that there is need for key actors in the development sector to provide more substantive post-land transfer support and ensure better access to water for the emerging farmers. This will enhance the farmers' chances of realizing more meaningful agricultural production while improving their livelihoods.

The incorporation of lipid ingredients into food matrices presents a main drawback&mdash:their susceptibility to oxidation&mdash:which is associated with the loss of nutritional properties and the generation of undesirable flavors and odors. Oil-in-water emulsions are able to stabilize and protect lipid compounds from oxidation. Driven by consumers&rsquo: demand, the search for natural emulsifiers, such as proteins, is gaining much interest in food industries. This paper evaluates the in vitro emulsifying properties of protein hydrolysates from animal (whey protein concentrate) and vegetal origin (a soy protein isolate). By means of statistical modelling and bi-objective optimization, the experimental variables, namely, the protein source, enzyme (i.e., subtilisin, trypsin), degree of hydrolysis (2&ndash:14%) and emulsion pH (2&ndash:8), were optimized to obtain their maximal in vitro emulsifying properties. This procedure concluded that the emulsion prepared from the soy protein hydrolysate (degree of hydrolysis (DH) 6.5%, trypsin) at pH 8 presented an optimal combination of emulsifying properties (i.e., the emulsifying activity index and emulsifying stability index). For validation purposes, a fish oil-in-water emulsion was prepared under optimal conditions, evaluating its physical and oxidative stability for ten days of storage. This study confirmed that the use of soy protein hydrolysate as an emulsifier stabilized the droplet size distribution and retarded lipid oxidation within the storage period, compared to the use of a non-hydrolyzed soy protein isolate.

Rising populations, rapid urbanisation, industrial expansion and economic growth are projected to significantly increase the demand for water, energy and food in South Asia over the next two decades. Energy demand alone is projected to more than double by 2040. Water availability per capita is expected to continue its long-term decline, particularly in Pakistan and parts of India where, within 20 years, it could reach crisis levels in some subregions. Arable land per capita will also continue to shrink and increases in food supply will need to come from intensified agricultural production systems and/or increased food imports. Climate change is expected to exacerbate these emerging issues of resource scarcity. Rising temperatures, changes to water resource availability – resulting from melting glaciers and changed precipitation regimes – and increases in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events (droughts, floods and heat waves) are all projected to adversely impact on economic activity, especially in the agriculture and energy sectors. Maintaining water, energy and food security will be a significant challenge for South Asian countries. Competition for land and water resources is set to intensify, driven by increased demand from agriculture, the energy sector and industry. Emerging resource constraints may involve difficult resource allocation trade-off decisions across sectors. Balancing the competing demands will be essential to sustaining future economic growth, poverty alleviation (especially achieving Sustainable Development Goals) and in maintaining national and regional political security. The extent to which South Asian countries can effectively manage these emerging issues will largely determine the region’s future economic development trajectory. Adopting a more integrated ‘nexus’-based approach to natural resource management and development planning offers much potential for improved water, energy and food (WEF) security and enhanced climate change resilience. Australia, through the Sustainable Development Investment Portfolio (SDIP), is supporting countries to better manage these emerging WEF security constraints, through targeted aid program investments and public/economic diplomacy. This paper highlights some of the innovative approaches that have been supported through SDIP and how they are contributing to improved development outcomes in the agriculture and energy sectors in South Asia.

Unsustainable use of water resources and environmental degradation as related to global food production systems are critical issues of concern. However, reducing food wastage along the supply chain can provide the needed solutions to resources and environmental conservations, while meeting food demand. This study quantified the wastage of common food types at each stage along the supply chain in Korea using top-down mass flow analysis for the period of 2007–2017. The principal component analysis (PCA) was used to rank the food types based on their contribution to the total wastage. The water resources and GHG emissions associated with food wastage were assessed using the production footprint concept, after which prediction models were developed. The estimated food wastage was 14.97 ± 1.2 million tonnes, with production, postharvest, processing, distribution, and consumption representing 14%, 11%, 13%, 15%, and 46%, respectively. Vegetables, maize, and rice were ranked as the highest food types contributing to the total wastage, while mutton and rapeseed were the least. Our results indicated 15.24 ± 1.95 billion m³ and 20.08 ± 6.14 megatonnes CO₂eq of water footprint and GHG emissions associated with food wastage, respectively, with substantial variations among the 28 major food commodity types. The prediction models using Bradley-Terry fitted well for the trend analysis of water footprint and GHG emission associated with food wastage. The prediction suggested that the total food supply, total wastage, water footprint, and GHG emission were estimated to reach 54.89 million tonnes, 16.91 million tonnes, 18.63 billion m³, and 27.41 megatonnes CO₂eq by 2030, respectively. This study is of utmost importance considering the strong desire of the Korean government to pursue food self-sufficiency in the face of constraint water resources and GHG emission reduction target.

The Netherlands has the ambitious target of transitioning to a low-carbon economy by 2050. One factor that may constrain this progress, however, is the large spatial requirements of renewable energy technologies, and resulting competition for land through interlinkages between the Climate (C), Land (L), Energy (E), Water (W) and Food (F) domains—the CLEWF nexus. This study aims at identifying innovations that can improve the performance of the nexus by addressing the land scarcity constraint while supporting the low-carbon economy transition. A framework for the identification of potential innovations applicable in the nexus context was developed and applied. It is derived from a Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) analysis of land scarcity in the Dutch nexus and a stock-taking benchmarking analysis of European countries. An inventory of innovations was prepared based on several classifications of innovations, collecting examples from the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Latvia and Sweden. Three innovations were identified as particularly promising: district heating, Energy Service Companies and peak shaving through water pumping. Furthermore, the DPSIR framework was also used to identify overarching societal elements common to countries that successfully implemented sustainable innovations. These were found to relate to long-term political commitments, geopolitical and economic drivers, and pioneering approaches building from and towards national strengths.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg. | This thesis commences with a review of the development and relevance of the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus as a framework for achieving resource security. Based on academic and grey literature it includes an assessment of what the WEF nexus is, a review of its novelty (or lack thereof), and describes the challenges associated with integrating and optimising the WEF nexus. The criticism that several WEF nexus conceptualisations neglect distributional justice is considered, followed by a reflection on governance aspects associated with the approach. Four short WEF nexus case studies illustrate nexus considerations. The research subsequently assesses the status quo of opinion within the WEF nexus fraternity. The approach is not yet a decade old, and several practitioners have called for a shift in focus from ‘nexus thinking’ to ‘nexus doing.’ Various research tools to support nexus action are presented. Next, a comprehensive WEF nexus case study that includes indicators and GIS-base maps is offered. The case study is the Mpumalanga Province in South Africa, which represents a melting pot for the WEF nexus. Within this province is a strategic water area, extensive coal mining for energy generation and a considerable portion of the nation’s high potential agricultural land. This nexus assessment yields a radar chart that represents a visualisation of six water-, energy- and food-related indicators. An anthropogenic WEF nexus framework is subsequently motivated and presented. This framework has been utilised to develop the core output of this research project, namely, the development of a country-level composite indicator that has been established for 170 nations. Following an assessment of 87 globally applicable water-, energy- and food-related indicators, 21 were selected to constitute the WEF Nexus Index. This index provides a quantitative perspective of this multi-centric lens for evaluating trade-offs necessary to achieve sustainable development. To this end, it can be utilised for assessing national progress relating to integrated resource management as well as supporting decision making and policy development. The relevance and usefulness of the outcomes are demonstrated through a detailed discourse of the findings for selected regions and countries. An extended analysis is provided for the Southern African Development Community (SADC). WEF nexus assessments in the decade leading up to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target year must be more comprehensive. Qualitative studies must be conducted in parallel with quantitative assessments. There is no one-size-fits-all method for integrated resource management utilising the WEF nexus. Instead, the approach must be tailored for each unique situation, and the WEF Nexus Index can be a catalyst and entry-point for such studies. By evaluating a subset of the SDGs, the index is complementary to the SDGs. The WEF Nexus Index is not a silver bullet that will solve all the significant development or environmental challenges facing humanity. This approach can, however, be added to the sustainability toolbox that is being utilised to engineer ‘the future we want’. | Extended Abstract on page vi-viii.

The winter wheat–summer maize double cropping system caused overexploitation of groundwater in the North China Plain; it is unsustainable and threatens food security and the overall wellbeing of humankind in the region. Finding water-saving cropping systems without compromising food security is a more likely solution. In this study, six alternative cropping systems’ water conservation and food supply capacity were compared simultaneously. A combined water footprint method was applied to analyze the cropping systems’ water consumption. The winter wheat–summer maize system had the largest water consumption (16,585 m³/ha on average), followed by the potato/spring maize, spinach–spring maize, rye–spring maize, vetch–spring maize, pea/spring maize, soybean||spring maize and mono-spring maize cropping systems. For the groundwater, the spinach–spring maize, pea/spring maize, soybean||spring maize systems showed a higher degree of synchronization between crop growth period and rainfall, which could reduce use of groundwater by 36.8%, 54.4% and 57.6%, respectively. For food supply capacity, the values for spinach–spring maize, pea/spring maize, soybean||spring maize systems were 73.0%, 60.8% and 48.4% of winter wheat–summer maize, respectively, but they showed a better feeding efficiency than the winter wheat–summer maize system. On the whole, spinach–spring maize may be a good option to prevent further decline in groundwater level and to ensure food security in a sustainable way.

Availability of sufficient and clean freshwater has become a growing constraint to sustainable agricultural development in many countries. We explore two pathways that hold the potential to reduce water consumption and pollution related to cereal production in Iran: reducing food waste and changing cropping patterns. Hereto, we first evaluated the green, blue and grey water footprint (WF) associated with production of wheat, barley and rice. Next, we assessed resulting water scarcity and pollution levels at the provincial scale, for the period 1980–2010. Both total WF and its blue water share were found to have increased considerably from 1980 on. For the year 2010 (a representative hydrological year), results show that the national total green–blue WF of production of these major cereals is 43 × 10⁹m³. Regarding the grey WF of production, 30 × 10⁹m³ was required to take up surplus N loads to water bodies. Resulting blue water scarcity and water pollution levels are highest in the arid and semi-arid provinces, caused in part by cereal production destined for export to other regions. Exploring reduction pathways showed that bridling cereal waste allows a potential reduction in both the green–blue WF and grey WF of production of up to 5% each. Relocating production areas and modifying cereal trade patterns from water-abundant to scarcer provinces could save up to 3.5% in the green–blue WF of production and up to 25% in the grey WF.

Accurate estimation of land use/land cover (LULC) areas is critical, especially over the semi-arid environments of the southwestern United States where water shortage and loss of rangelands and croplands are affecting the food production systems. This study was conducted within the context of providing an improved understanding of New Mexico&rsquo:s (NM&rsquo:s) Food&ndash:Energy&ndash:Water Systems (FEWS) at the county level. The main goal of this analysis was to evaluate the most important LULC classes for NM&rsquo:s FEWS by implementing standardized protocols of accuracy assessment and providing bias-corrected area estimates of these classes. The LULC data used in the study was based on National Land Cover Database (NLCD) legacy maps of 1992, 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016. The analysis was conducted using the cloud-based geospatial processing and modeling tools available from System for Earth Observation Data Access, Processing, and Analysis for Land Monitoring (SEPAL) of the Food and Agricultural Organization. Accuracy assessment, uncertainty analysis, and bias-adjusted area estimates were evaluated by collecting a total of 11,428 reference samples using the Open Foris Collect Earth tool that provided access to high spatial and temporal resolution images available in Google Earth. The reference samples were allocated using a stratified random sampling approach. The results showed an overall accuracy that ranged from 71%&ndash:100% in all six study counties. The user&rsquo:s and producer&rsquo:s accuracy of most LULC classes were about or above 80%. The obtained bias-adjusted area estimates were higher than those based on pixel counting. The bias-adjusted area estimates simultaneously showed decreasing and increasing trends in grassland and shrubland, respectively in four counties that include Curry, Roosevelt, Lea, and Eddy during the 1992&ndash:2016 period. Do&ntilde:a Ana county experienced increasing and decreasing trends in grassland and shrubland areas, respectively. San Juan county experienced decreasing trends in both grassland and shrubland areas. Cultivated cropland areas showed decreasing trends in three counties in southeast NM that rely on groundwater resources including Curry, Roosevelt, and Lea. Similarly, cultivated cropland areas showed increasing trends in the other three counties that rely on surface water or conjunctive use of surface and groundwater resources including San Juan, Do&ntilde:a Ana, and Eddy. The use of SEPAL allowed for efficient assessment and production of more accurate bias-adjusted area estimates compared to using pixel counting. Providing such information can help in understanding the behavior of NM&rsquo:s food production systems including rangelands and croplands, better monitoring and characterizing NM&rsquo:s FEWS, and evaluating their behavior under changing environmental and climatic conditions. More effort is needed to evaluate the ability of the NLCD data and other similar products to provide more accurate LULC area estimates at local scales.

The intense and unconscious use of antibacterial drugs or vitamins to protect fisheries production, fight against fish diseases and promote growth in fish can lead to the emergence of microorganisms resistant to antibiotics and serious public health problems through consumption. Little is known about the food-borne pathogens detected by molecular methods in fish which are grown in fish farms in Turkey and about the antimicrobial resistance genes of food-borne pathogens. In this study, DNA isolations were first made from collected fish muscle samples. Extended spectrum beta lactamase (blaCTX-M, blaSHV and blaTEM) and carbapanemase (blaKPC, blaOXA-48, blaVIM, blaIMP) genes were investigated in fish tissue and DNA was found to be positive with qPCR. As a result of isolation in 50 fish samples, 70 bacteria were detected by qPCR. Of the 11 samples with E.coli, 3 were identified as E. coli O157: H7. In the fish samples, Aeromonas spp. was detected at the highest percentage (46%), followed by P.shigelloides. When the distribution of the extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) genes were examined with qPCR in the samples with positive results, blaCTX-M was detected in 22 samples, teblaSHV in 19 samples and blaTEM genes were detected in 10 specimens. In 17 samples of P. shigelloides positive, no antimicrobial resistance gene was detected. When the distributions of the carbapenemase genes were found in the positive samples, the blaKPC gene was found to be positive in 6 samples and Aeromonas spp. was detected in 5 of these samples. The aim of this study was to analyze the status of food-borne pathogens detected in trout species in the Euphrates River and to analyze and demonstrate the antimicrobial resistance genes of these bacteria using the qPCR method. Food-borne pathogens and antimicrobial resistance genes such as extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL) and carbapanemases, were determined by molecular methods. To be able to reduce the currently increasing rates of antimicrobial resistance, the unconscious use of drugs should be reduced in the treatment of aquatic diseases and the data of the resistance genes in the pathogens detected in fish should be followed molecularly and epidemiologically.