Sustainable development is the heart of the relationship between food, energy, and water. Almost every form of energy is formed by water, and agriculture is one of the biggest users of freshwater resources worldwide.
The demand for all three is rising quickly. To meet the demands of the people, the environment, and the economy, the govt makes sure that the integrated and sustainable management of food, energy, and water to meet the present and future challenges.
Water–energy–food nexus: The issue explained
The demand for energy, food, and water is increasing rapidly. The growing global population, fast urbanization, and economic expansion adversely put pressure on the nexus. In many nations, as the earnings rise, there is a global shift from the dirt mostly made of carbohydrates towards the growing wish for meat and dairy products that require more water.
The production of energy and food is highly water intensive. Agriculture is one of the largest consumers of freshwater resources and about one-quarter of the energy used globally is used for the food supply and production.
The goals of sustainable development are a risk because of the pressure on the food, water, and energy nexus. The water capacity to increase the advancement into the number of SDGs, mainly those holding to the poverty, hunger, and environment is reduced as it grows rapidly.
The way forward
Renewable sources must be expanded by the government. More support is needed for the development of renewable sources like hydropower and wind which use less energy. Geothermal energy has enormous potential as a long-term, climate-dependent resource that uses no water and emits little to no carbon gases.
Sustainable agriculture is difficult. The linked system of water, soil, and land is being stretched. The integrity of the environment can be ensured by protecting the ecosystems with energy and agricultural production along with the entire agrifood chain.
The necessary functions given by the ecosystem must be appreciated. The govt embraces its potential instead of allowing nature to be destroyed and degraded. With the green infrastructure, the more sustainable water-food-energy nexus and a “greener” economy can be secured by building forests to preserve the soil and aid in groundwater recharge or building land dams.
The management of water, food, and energy must be integrated. The management of water resources, ecosystem protection, and water supply and sanitation are the three areas where the decision-makers from all domains of these three collaborate.
Benefits of the Nexus approach
Various benefits are included in the Nexus Approach. The benefits are as follows:
Economic Advantage: The economic advantage includes the improvement in trade and innovation, resilience to climate change, increment in the value-added into the agriculture sectors and tourism, decreased risks and expenses related to droughts and floods, and improved the mid-and long-term viability of economic activities.
Social and environmental benefits: It includes the advancement of the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, good public health, job development, better water, and good services of sanitation.
Regional cooperation and geopolitical benefits: It includes the increment of the collaboration into the management of common resources which includes the adoption of new cross-border agreements, common procedures and rules, and growth of the markets for labor, services, and goods.
Statistics of the Water–energy–food nexus
| Water | 72% (For Agriculture) 16% (For Industry) 12% (For municipalities) |
| Energy | 90% (For water-intensive) |
| Food | 864 million people experienced food insecurity |
CTCN responds to the water, energy, and food needs of developing countries
The CTCN do collaborated with the National Designated Entities (NDEs) and more than 800 network members for more than 10 yaers to give a variety of technological support, knowledge-sharing, and capacity-building initiatives, such as:
- Helping the nations with various solutions and using energy as the major facilitator for agriculture, growing post-harvest storage, enhancing water efficiency, and crop yields.
- Making the skills related to the trade and Agro-processing technology in combination to promote the chains of agriculture values.
- By using renewable energy on smallholder farms to find out the groundwater found in deep aquifers.
- Encouraging the local and national initiatives for the transportation of the energy efficient and cooling system innovation.
- Enhancing the food affordability, availability, and accessibility by the creation of sustainable agricultural and dependable water mgt techniques.
- Encouraged the sources of renewable energy and energy efficiency to strengthen the resilience of the food systems and reduce the food production’s susceptibility.
- Boosint the chains of the agricultural values chains and efficiency to lower the deforestation linked to agriculture.
Next-generation WEF
The WEF is very necessary to all nations to preserve valuable and frequently depleting resources like water and fertile soil in the face of climate change, increase resilience, and achieve the climate and the goals of sustainable development.
The CTCN ( Climate Technology Centre and Network) gives programmatic and multi-country technical assistance, builds the building, and helps the nation collect data and information. In addition, it makes use of cutting-edge tools and technology to make the connection between the food, energy, and water systems like:
- Improve the platforms and the resources for cooperation and education on the development and the agri-food innovations transmission.
- Held in creating the national policies, strategies, and implementation of the plans.
- Utilized modern tools for the network of the WEF.
- Giving individuals to chance to make plans and manage together.
- Makes the initiatives for capacity building and details transfer into areas like sustainable agriculture, renewable energy technology, and integrated water resource management.
- Implementation of the sensor to support the crop and the food resilience.
- Enhanced productivity, accounting, and water management.
FAQ:
Q: On which, the food, energy, and water depend?
Ans: Food, energy, and water depend on sustainable development.
Q: What are the benefits of this NEXUS?
Ans: Economic Advantage, Social and environmental benefits, and more.