Combining the Water–Energy–Food and Food Waste–Food Loss–Food Security Nexuses to Reduce Resource Waste

Abstract

The availability of water, energy and food plays a key role in meeting the basic needs of the world population and allowing them to achieve prosperity and supports the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs). These three fundamental resources are closely interrelated, with their deep interdependencies reflected in various concepts of the ‘water–energy–food nexus’ (W–E–F). One-third of the total food produced globally results in food loss and waste (FL and FW), which also means the waste of resources used for their production, mainly energy and water. We thus propose a fusion of the W–E–F nexus and the FS–FW–FL nexus to achieve a better correlation between food production and food consumption in order to avoid additional negative effects. We explore the research problem of how the availability of water, energy and food resources can be improved by reducing FW and FL. The objective of this paper is to present an overview of opportunities to reduce the negative effects of FWL. The review paper is based on a comprehensive analysis of the literature, exploration of various (basic and extended) W–E–F models and their linkages with SDG and the entirety of the food supply chain from field to table. In addition to a literature analysis, we applied comparative methods, modeling, visualization and basic indicators of descriptive statistics. Although the amount of literature on this topic is growing, we found that systematic knowledge is still scarce, with each new study putting forth yet more new solutions. Although the data in various studies show somewhat different results, we conclude that reducing FW and FL has a positive, harmonizing effect on the W–E–F nexus.

Processed foods: From their emergence to resilient technologies

“…The urgent need to reduce food loss and waste has been reported repeatedly (Béné et al., 2019; Skawińska & Zalewski, 2022; Springmann et al., 2018). A review of the various sources of food waste within food systems has identified 1.3–1.6 giga tons of food being wasted globally every year with enormous environmental, social, and economic costs and with impact on food security and material economics (Knorr & Augustin, 2022a).…”

“…An evaluation of the water−energy−food and food waste−food loss−food security nexuses to reduce food waste concluded that reducing food waste and loss has a positive effect on the water−energy−food nexus (Skawińska & Zalewski, 2022). Energy requirements for selected conventional and alternative food processes, some of the benefits of using low energy food processes and recommendations for food waste reduction, recovery and conversion via the collective work of all stakeholders within food systems have been provided (Knorr & Augustin, 2022a; Rodriguez‐Gonzalez et al., 2015).…”

Interconnection of Green Knowledge Management and Sustainable Business Capabilities: An Investigation of the Culinary MSME Sector in the Food Waste Emergency Zone of Indonesia

“…Indonesia's food waste emergency is a serious problem with multiple impacts: hunger and unsustainability [10]. Food wastage rates are high due to problems in the food supply chain, from farmers who have to throw away crops to consumers who often throw away food due to a lack of education.…”

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