Southern Africa’s Water–Energy Nexus: Towards Regional Integration and Development

Mabhaudhi, Tafadzwanashe; Mpandeli, Sylvester; Madhlopa, Amos; Modi, Albert T.; Backeberg, Gerhard R.; Nhamo, Luxon

doi:10.3390/w8060235

Cited by 57 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The SADC's RAP also prioritises energy availability for irrigation, adding an interesting section that stresses the significance of the region's shared water resources and the establishment of cross-border irrigation schemes. The importance of incorporating energy in development planning [20] and the transboundary nature of the SADC's watercourses [7] underlines the need to balance and coordinate resource development through the WEF nexus. The CAADP addressed this by placing emphasis on prioritising investment in small-scale irrigation, setting a target of about 14.2 million ha for small-scale irrigation schemes.…”

Section: What Is the Vision For Food Security In Africa And Southern mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Feedstock production for biofuels, such as ethanol, may depend on water for irrigation, and renewable energy resources such as solar require water for cooling and cleaning panels or collectors for improved efficiency [10]. Solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind technologies demand minimal quantities of water [20,36]. Energy is itself required to make water resources available for human use and consumption (including irrigation) through pumping, transportation, treatment and desalination [10].…”

Section: Water For Energymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prospects for Improving Irrigated Agriculture in Southern Africa: Linking Water, Energy and Food

Mabhaudhi

Mpandeli

Nhamo

et al. 2018

Water

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Increasing agricultural productivity has always been a prominent feature on the regional agenda due to a high incidence of food and nutrition insecurity. This review assessed the current status of irrigated agriculture in southern Africa from a water–energy–food (WEF) nexus perspective. Gaps and opportunities for improving irrigated agriculture within the context of the WEF nexus were also assessed in terms of the feasible limits to which they can be exploited. Southern Africa faces water scarcity, and climate projections show that member states will face increased physical and/or economic water scarcity by as early as 2025, which will have negative impacts on water, energy and food production. Recurrent droughts experienced across the region reaffirm the sensitive issues of food and energy insecurity as well as water scarcity. Projections of an increasing population within the region indicate increased water, energy and food demand. With agriculture already accounting for about 70% of water withdrawals, increasing the area under irrigation will place additional demand on already strained energy grids and scarce water resources. This poses the question—is increasing irrigated agriculture a solution to improving water access, food security and energy supply? While there are prospects for increasing the area under irrigation and subsequent improvement in agricultural productivity, adopting a WEF nexus approach in doing so would mitigate trade-offs and unintended consequences. Consideration of the WEF nexus in integrated resources planning and management eliminates the possibilities of transferring problems from one sector to other, as it manages synergies and trade-offs. While it is acknowledged that improving water productivity in irrigated agriculture could reduce water and energy use while increasing yield output, there is a need to decide how such savings would then be reallocated. Any intervention to increase the irrigated area should be done in the context of a WEF nexus analytical framework to guide policy and decision-making. Technical planning should evolve around the WEF nexus approach in setting targets, as WEF nexus indicators would reveal the performance and impact of proposed interventions on any of the three WEF nexus components.

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Section: What Is the Vision For Food Security In Africa And Southern mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Water For Energymentioning

confidence: 99%

Prospects for Improving Irrigated Agriculture in Southern Africa: Linking Water, Energy and Food

Mabhaudhi

Mpandeli

Nhamo

et al. 2018

Water

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“…Importantly, NUS, which include crop wild relatives (CWR), are an important germplasm resource for future crop improvements for beneficial traits such as nutritional value and abiotic and biotic stress tolerances (Castañeda-Alvarez et al, 2016). However, much of this reported potential is currently premised on anecdotal evidence with limited robust, empirical, and comparable information (Mabhaudhi et al, 2016b). Thus, there is a need to promote evidence-based approaches that can assist in developing policy and increased research funding to support NUS (Mabhaudhi and Modi, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing a Roadmap for Improving Neglected and Underutilized Crops: A Case Study of South Africa

et al. 2017

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Reports of neglected and underutilized crops' (NUS) potential remain mostly anecdotal with limited and often incoherent research available to support them. This has been attributed to lack of clear research goals, limited funding directed at NUS and journal apathy toward publishing work on NUS. The latter points also explain the lack of interest from emerging and established researchers. Additionally, the NUS community's inability to articulate a roadmap for NUS' promotion may have unintentionally contributed to this. The current study is a sequel to an initial study that assessed the status of NUS in South Africa. The objective of this follow-up study was then to (i) identify priority NUS, and (ii) articulate a strategy and actionable recommendations for promoting NUS in South Africa. The study identified 13 priority NUS, categorized into cereals, legumes, root, and tuber crops and leafy vegetables based on drought and heat stress tolerance and nutritional value. It is recommended that the available limited resources should be targeted on improving these priority NUS as they offer the best prospects for success. Focus should be on developing value chains for the priority NUS. This should be underpinned by science to provide evidence-based outcomes. This would assist to attract more funding for NUS research, development and innovation in South Africa. It is envisaged that through this roadmap, NUS could be transformed from the peripheries into mainstream agriculture. This study provides a template for developing a roadmap for promoting NUS that could be transposed and replicated among the 14 other southern African states.

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“…• Charcoal is absent of analysis or, if considered, is considered a problem to be solved by other forms of energy or technologies favored by existing institutional arrangements, e.g., centrally planned hydropower projects and "improved" or "modern" technological solutions (Schreiner and Baleta, 2015;Mabhaudhi et al, 2016;Muller, 2016).…”

Section: Explicit Nexus Analysis Made On Mozambique and Southern Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sanitation is included as healthcare. Indeed, areas subjected to drought, away from irrigation networks or low underground water levels are associated with food insecurity and poverty (Mabhaudhi et al, 2016). Conversely, the lack, or the price increase, of charcoal can also affect household's cooking habits.…”

Section: Nexus and Systems Analysis Relevant For Ces And Mozambiquementioning

confidence: 99%

Nexusing Charcoal in South Mozambique: A Proposal To Integrate the Nexus Charcoal-Food-Water Analysis With a Participatory Analytical and Systemic Tool

Martins

2018

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Nexus analysis identifies and explores the synergies and trade-offs between energy, food and water systems, considered as interdependent systems interacting with contextual drivers (e.g., climate change, poverty). The nexus is, thus, a valuable analytical and policy design supporting tool to address the widely discussed links between bioenergy, food and water. In fact, the Nexus provides a more integrative and broad approach in relation to the single isolated system approach that characterizes many bioenergy analysis and policies of the last decades. In particular, for the South of Mozambique, charcoal production, food insecurity and water scarcity have been related in separated studies and, thus, it would be expected that Nexus analysis has the potential to provide the basis for integrated policies and strategies focused on charcoal as a development factor. However, to date there is no Nexus analysis focused on charcoal in Mozambique, neither is there an assessment of the comprehensiveness and relevance of Nexus analysis when applied to charcoal energy systems. To address these gaps, this work applies the Nexus to the charcoal-food-water system in Mozambique, integrating national, regional and international studies analysing the isolated, or pairs of, systems. This integration results in a novel Nexus analysis graphic for charcoal-food-water relationship. Then, to access the comprehensiveness and depth of analysis, this Nexus analysis is critically compared with the 2MBio-A, a systems analytical and design framework based on a design tool specifically developed for Bioenergy (the 2MBio). The results reveal that Nexus analysis is "blind" to specific fundamental social, ecological and socio-historical dynamics of charcoal energy systems. The critical comparison also suggests the need to integrate the high level systems analysis of Nexus with non-deterministic, non-prescriptive participatory analysis tools, like the 2MBio-A, as a means to increase sensitivity to the specifics of charcoal systems while keeping the practical benefits of Nexus as a high level policy design tool. In conceptual terms, this integration promotes open, participatory, integrated, comprehensive and creative analysis and exploration of the Nexus across scales, disciplines and sectors, providing thus, a strong base to design inclusive, sound and robust policies, projects and strategies relating/integrating charcoal, food and water security.

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Southern Africa’s Water–Energy Nexus: Towards Regional Integration and Development

Cited by 57 publications

References 32 publications

Prospects for Improving Irrigated Agriculture in Southern Africa: Linking Water, Energy and Food

Prospects for Improving Irrigated Agriculture in Southern Africa: Linking Water, Energy and Food

Developing a Roadmap for Improving Neglected and Underutilized Crops: A Case Study of South Africa

Nexusing Charcoal in South Mozambique: A Proposal To Integrate the Nexus Charcoal-Food-Water Analysis With a Participatory Analytical and Systemic Tool

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