An impact analysis of population growth on energy‐water‐food‐land nexus for ecological sustainable development in Rwanda

Abstract

While agricultural activities are a major drain on water resources in Rwanda, its high population growth continually escalates energy–water–food–land nexus pressures. With 13.03 million inhabitants on a 26,336 km2 area which translates to be 495 inhabitants per km2, Rwanda has the second‐highest population density in Africa because of its high annual population growth rate of 2.95%. Access to clean drinking water, energy, and food to meet the demographic needs in Rwanda are fundamental, but this is unlikely to be the case by 2050 due to the anticipated land scarcity. Land stress is endangering energy, water, and food security, and this works against ecological sustainable development. This research analyzed the ecological balance of human activities in Rwanda and how policymakers have increasingly emphasized on energy–water–food nexus sectors separately without integrating land usage and population growth which poses an even more critical situation if left unattended to. The research study recommends the Multi‐Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) method as being appropriate to support the transition toward a sustainable economy because it is used to optimize resources, generate focused decisions, actions, investments, and policies that would combat nexus pressures and promote ecological sustainable development.

Spatio-temporal Analysis of Urban Growth and Its Effects on Wetlands in Rwanda: The Case of Rwampara Wetland in the City of Kigali

“…These mainly include demographic, economic and biophysical factors as well as factors related to neighborhood and proximity characteristics. As far as demographic factors are concerned, the country's population has critically increased from 4.8 million in 1978 to 10.5 million in 2012 and the percentage of the people living in urban areas has also followed a similar trend (from 4 % of the total population in 1978 to 16.5 % in 2012) (Imasiku and Ntagwirumugara, 2019;UNEP, 2011). On this point, the findings of this study are corroborated by other studies by Khan et al, (2014) and Ma et al, (2012) who argued that the ultimate effect of rapid population growth in a given country is associated with rapid urban growth its cities and towns.…”

“…Currently, the country's annual urban growth (4.5 %) largely exceeds the global average (1.8%) (REMA, 2015). In addition, its population density (495 inhabitants/km 2 in 2018) ranks among the top 5 highest population densities in Africa (Imasiku and Ntagwirumugara, 2019). Consequently, both rapid urbanization and population growth are posing serious threats on wetland resources in both rural and urban areas (Rwanyiziri et al, 2019;Nabahungu and Visser, 2011;Rwanyiziri and Rugema, 2013).…”

Indicators of Land, Water, Energy and Food (LWEF) Nexus Resource Drivers: A Perspective on Environmental Degradation in the Gidabo Watershed, Southern Ethiopia

“…This has pushed more than one billion people to face shortages of land, water, energy and food. The risk of nexus resources insecurity impacts results from the interaction of natural and anthropogenic factors which lead to the vulnerability and exposure of the human and natural system that substantially contributes to nexus resource degradation [ 3 ]. This diminishes the capacity of the nexus resources that perform essential functions and services in the ecosystem [ 4 , 5 ].…”

“…However, there is an inadequacy in the identification of the driving factors that affect the pool of LWEF nexus resources, which necessitates comprehensive study and critical reflection on the existing nexus Resource Drivers [ 2 , 6 , 9 ]. The identification of the driving factors of land, water, energy and food is critical to provide useful information for the improvement of the sustainable utilization of nexus resources [ 1 , 3 , 10 ].…”

Bioaccumulation of priority trace metals in edible muscles of West African lungfish (Protopterus annectens Owen, 1839) from Nyabarongo River, Rwanda

“…Global population registered a sharp increase to 7.8 billion in 2020 following the industrial revolution and is expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 (Akresh et al, 2011). With 13.03 million inhabitants occupying about 26,336 km 2 area (495 inhabitants per km 2 ), Rwanda has the second-highest population density in Africa (Imasiku & Ntagwirumugara, 2020;Mukanyandwi et al, 2018). In East Africa, it is the most densely populated country (Karamage et al, 2016a;UN, 2015).…”