Sustainable management and conservation of natural resources in the agricultural sector using the Water-Energy-Food Ecosystems Nexus concept
Access to water, food, energy and ecosystem related resources is essential for economic welfare, social well-being and environmental sustainability. Industrialisation, urbanisation, and population growth impose challenges on how these resources can be efficiently used. In the following years, the management of water, energy, food and ecosystems will face numerous challenges to guaranteeing worldwide environmental and socio-economic sustainability. These challenges will be exacerbated by a key constraint: the interconnections and interdependencies among them. For instance, water is a major input in the production of food and energy. Approximately 70% of global water consumption is used for agriculture (mostly for irrigation) and 8% of global freshwater withdrawals is for energy production. Food production and supply chains use 30% of worldwide energy for food processing, transportation and irrigation. Additionally, first-generation biofuels use water, land and food resources. Finally, the water, energy and food sectors can further influence the surrounding environment generating changes in ecosystems. As an example, 90% of global deforestation is attributed to land-use conversion for crop and livestock production. Current scientific evidence shows that it will no longer be possible to meet the demands for food and first-generation biofuel production without further ecosystem degradation. Water, energy, food, and ecosystems’ security concerns will require considering not only the current interactions among the sectors but also their future trends. Under current projections of climate change and population growth, these trends impose yet additional challenges.
To sum up, challenges can arise from three perspectives: i) individual challenges of each sector; ii) challenges related to the interconnections between sectors; and, iii) challenges driven by the expected trends of climate change and population growth. The interdependencies and interconnections between water, energy, food and ecosystems will vary across context and scale making their governance a demanding task. While energy and food production are the main users of water and water governance is at the centre of discussions for their sustainable management, environment and ecosystems (and agricultural Nature-based Solutions-NBS) have recently been in the forefront of the natural resource management debates for a sustainable agricultural sector. Thus, the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus will be used as a multi-level and cross-sectoral approach to assess the current productivity and sustainability levels of the agricultural sector (in Germany or any other country of interest for the student) while considering the interconnections and interdependencies among different economic sectors when it comes to water management and environmental sustainability.
After identifying the country/state of interest (in EU or US), the tasks of the above project could be as follows:
1. Main challenges and opportunities for agriculture (in the country/state of interest)
2. Trends in productivity growth
3. Trends in sustainability performance
4. Common drivers of agricultural productivity and sustainability
5. Natural resource use and climate change in agriculture
6. WEFE Nexus and agriculture (in the country/state of interest)
7. Agriculture nature-based solutions to enhance food production and the environment
8. WEFE Nexus, agriculture NBS and water governance: co-benefits and socio-economic considerations
9. Agricultural innovation and environmental policy for food, water and environment
