One Swallow Does Not Make a Summer: Siloes, Trade-Offs and Synergies in the Water-Energy-Food Nexus

Kurian, Mathew; Scott, Christopher A.; Reddy, V. Ratna; Alabaster, Graham; Nardocci, Adelaide Cássia; Portney, Kent E.; Boer, Rizaldi; Hannibal, Bryce

doi:10.3389/fenvs.2019.00032

Cited by 34 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…In sum, our analysis is of great significance, as it sheds new light on the comprehensive understanding of vulnerability contexts and disaster management capability. Moreover, it is noteworthy that SL encompasses the economic, social, and environmental aspects, which are also key hurdles to achieve the SDGs [60,61]. Among these, environmental systems are difficult to be separated, as they are usually interlinked [62].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Sustainable Livelihoods in the Context of Disaster Vulnerability: A Case Study of Shenzha County in Tibet, China

et al. 2019

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The issue of achieving sustainable livelihoods (SL) is a persistent problem that has gained significant interest for all countries. Even though contexts of vulnerability have been highlighted to be critical to SL, the difference of SL under vulnerability contexts, particularly disaster, has been ignored. As one disaster-prone area, there is an urgent need to conduct studies on SL in Shenzha, within the context of the construction of a national park. This paper proposes to address this research gap by evaluating SL under various disaster contexts in Shenzha, China. According to the frequency of natural disasters, towns in Shenzha can be divided into three groups: Snowstorm and windstorm-dominated towns (SWT), mixed towns (MT) and drought-dominated towns (DT). The results showed that (1) a great disparity of SL can be observed among the three vulnerability groups. The scores of these SL were sorted into descending order as: DT > SWT > MT. (2) In detail, herdsmen in DT have a high value of SL because they have high livelihood assets, livelihood strategies and disaster management capabilities. (3) Herdsmen in SWT have high livelihood assets, particularly human and financial assets, and livelihood strategies. (4) The low livelihood assets and livelihood strategies have restricted the SL of herdsmen in MT. An analysis of SL under various disaster contexts helped to depict the characteristics of SL. Accordingly, targeted policies were developed for the development of SL under various disaster contexts.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Sustainable Livelihoods in the Context of Disaster Vulnerability: A Case Study of Shenzha County in Tibet, China

et al. 2019

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“…To this end, the WEF nexus framework's salient feature is the appraisal of the interconnections and interdependencies among water, energy and food systems [11]. The WEF nexus advocates for a structured methodology geared towards maximising the inherent synergies while minimising the trade-offs and improving the efficiency of using the resources and internalising the socio-environmental influences across a range of contexts and scales [13,14]. Any lack of access to the inherently integrated systems constrains sustainable development and can have adverse effects on regional securities affecting the interrelated services needed to achieve human wellbeing, and preserve and strengthen livelihoods for generations to come.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of the Water–Energy–Food Nexus Research in Africa

Botai

Ncongwane

et al. 2021

Sustainability

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Notwithstanding the dispersed nature of the water, energy and food (WEF) nexus scholarship in the African continent, its strategic importance to the African agenda has gained widespread attention in research and planning circles. In this regard, the bibliometric science mapping and content analysis of the WEF nexus scientific publication trends, the conceptual, intellectual and social structures, as well as the inherent paradigmatic shifts in the WEF nexus body of knowledge in the African continent have been undertaken, using the nexus body of literature accessed from the Web of Science and Scopus core collection databases. The review results confirmed that, whilst the WEF nexus scholarship has expanded since 2013, there is also evidence of growth in the conceptual, intellectual and social structures of the WEF nexus in the African continent. These shifts have resulted in the emergence of hot topics (subfields) including modelling and optimization, climate variability and change, environmental ecosystem services sustainability, and sustainable development and livelihoods. The review further determined that these structures have evolved along two main perspectives of WEF nexus research development, i.e., the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary domains. In support of the interpretation of the visual analytics of the intellectual structure and changing patterns of the WEF nexus research, the shifts in positivist, interpretivist and pragmatic paradigmatic perspectives (these are underpinned by the ontology, epistemology, and methodology and methods) are considered when explaining WEF nexus research shifts: (a) From the unconnected silo paradigms that focus on water, energy and food (security concerns) to interconnected (and sometimes interdependent or nested) linkages or systems incorporating environmental, social-economic and political drivers (also viewed as subfields) in a bid to holistically support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across the African continent; and (b) in the evaluation of the WEF nexus scholarship based on novel analytical approaches. We contend that whilst the theories of science change underpin this apparent expansion, the macro-economic theory will find use in explaining how the WEF nexus research agenda is negotiated and the Integrative Environmental Governance (IEG) is the duly suited governance theory to bridge the inherent disconnect between WEF nexus output and governance processes uncovered in the literature. Overall, operational challenges and opportunities of the WEF nexus abound, transitioning the WEF nexus research to practice in Africa, motivating the need to take advantage of the scholar–practitioner research underpinnings, as contemplated in the transdisciplinary research approach, which is characterised by the dual quest for new knowledge and considerations of use. Yet, there is need for more coordinated and collaborative research to achieve impact and transition from WEF nexus thinking to WEF nexus practice.

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“…Perhaps this could be one of the reasons why gender is a missing component of existing WEF frameworks. Hence, Kurian et al (2019) suggested to consider the culturally mediated roles of gender in access to land, irrigation water, forests affecting labor market participation and wages with regards to governing the WEF nexus in agricultural households, which may systematically disadvantages women and girls by making them more experience poverty (Agarwal, 2001).…”

Section: Gender-specific Wef Nexus Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Gender Specific Differences of Smallholder Farm Households Perspective of Food-Energy-Land Nexus Frameworks in Ethiopia

Villamor

Guta

Mirzabaev³

2020

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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The water-energy-food security nexus concept is a widely recognized analytical approach to achieve sustainable development goals. However, to date, related thinking has mostly been applied at higher scales in a top-down manner, while bottom-up and local scale applications remain limited. This includes the gender dimension of the nexus, which is one of the sustainable development goals. Narrowing this gap, this paper describes and assesses the food-energy-land nexus from a smallholder farm household perspective in the context of rural Ethiopia through a gender-specific lens. To explore the differences between men and women perspective of the nexus, we adopted the Actors, Resources, Dynamics, and Interactions (ARDI) to co-develop a mental model of the nexus concept combined with statistical analysis. Using this approach, we examined the key direct actors and the linkages between major resources including the processes that affect the management by gender. The results indicate that there are four aspects that differentiate male and female perspectives with respect to the water-energy-food nexus. These differences include (1) access to external actors, (2) perceptions of target resources, (3) gender specific productive roles, and (4) decision making with respect to target resource management and utilization, which may affect the dynamics and governance of the water-energy-food nexus. With regards to factors associated with time spent for collecting water and fuel and crop production vary according to gender type. Overlooking these differences could make the nexus approach unrealistic to achieve gender equity while further aggrevating the already burdening roles of women including children within households.

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One Swallow Does Not Make a Summer: Siloes, Trade-Offs and Synergies in the Water-Energy-Food Nexus

Cited by 34 publications

References 49 publications

Evaluation of Sustainable Livelihoods in the Context of Disaster Vulnerability: A Case Study of Shenzha County in Tibet, China

Evaluation of Sustainable Livelihoods in the Context of Disaster Vulnerability: A Case Study of Shenzha County in Tibet, China

A Review of the Water–Energy–Food Nexus Research in Africa

Gender Specific Differences of Smallholder Farm Households Perspective of Food-Energy-Land Nexus Frameworks in Ethiopia

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