International Commission on Irrigation & Drainage Commission Interationale des Irrigation et du Drainage

Working Group on Water Food Energy Nexus (WG-WFE-N)

Water, energy and food are essential for human well-being and sustainable development. Global projections indicate that demand for freshwater, energy and food will increase significantly over the next decades under the pressure of population growth and mobility, economic development, international trade, urbanization, diversifying diets, cultural and technological changes, as well as climate change and other natural processes. The link between water, energy and food is inextricable in that water is an input for producing all kinds of agricultural crops and along the entire agro-food industry and supply chain. Energy in turn is required to produce and distribute water and food through processes such as pumping ground or surface water, powering tractors and irrigation machinery, and to process and transport agricultural goods. In more explicit terms, using water for irrigation might promote food production but it can also affect river flows and hydropower potential; growing crops under irrigation for bioenergy production can increase overall water exploitations and threaten food security; upgrading surface irrigation systems into more efficient pressurized techniques may conserve water but may also lead to higher energy consumption. Understanding and recognizing the diverse synergies and trade-offs involved between the three components is, thus, critical to ensure balance between water, energy and food security.

To this end, the global community is well aware of food-energy-water challenges, but has often addressed them in isolation, within sectoral margins. At the country level, fragmented sectoral responsibilities, lack of coordination, and inconsistencies between legal and regulatory frameworks has led to misaligned benefits and stress to the natural resources.

With a particular relevance to the Irrigation and Drainage sector, there lies the key question of food security in many developing countries. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) predicts that by 2050, population growth will result in doubled demand for food globally. The resulting present and anticipated challenges entail that innovative approaches have to be adopted to increase food production in order to meet the growing demand. Irrigation development is thought to be a preeminent strategy to answer food security challenges which now claims close to 70 percent of all freshwater withdrawals made for human use. In this perspective, many developing countries are vesting ambitious plans to expand irrigated agriculture. Strategies mainly highlight a shift from public to private investment and from larger to smallerscale systems in irrigation by promoting the idea of affordable and effective irrigation to poor farmers worldwide. The resulting rewards of higher outputs, incomes and better diets are, however, at the expense of higher water and energy consumption. 

Notification  Scoping Document

 

Organized an International Workshop on “The Water-Energy-Food-Nexus: implementation and examples of applications”, 09:30-13:00 hours (TBC), 02 November 2023  from 09:30:13:30 hours as part of the 25th International Congress on Irrigation and Drainage and the 74th International Executive Council meeting, 01-08 November 2023 in Vishakhapatnam (Vizag), Andhra Pradesh, India.

 

 
Mandate:

(a) To exchange information, knowledge, and experience, as well as networking on the Water-Food-Energy Nexus topic in order to be up to date with new developments, methods and approaches. This can be the basis for a possible position paper on key issues on the nexus. (b) To prepare an overview document on the state of the art on improving water use efficiency and productivity within the nexus. (c) to produce a document of impact of climate change and possible use of non-conventional less water consuming crops (d) To prepare an overview document on the state of the art on model applications as useful management tools for water, crops, field and energy management within the nexus (e) To prepare and present reports on case studies on recent developments in the countries that are represented in the WG; and from presented cases of the workshops (f) To organize international workshops, seminars or symposia on the Nexus topic. (g) To implement ICID 2030 vision.


Established : 2020

Chairman Message

Profile image
Prof. Dr. Ragab Ragab, United Kingdom

Activities

Webinar on Application of Models in Water-Energy-Food Nexus, 11 April 2024 (Thursday), 15:00-16:00 Hours (IST)

 

Call for Papers: International Workshop on “The Water-Energy-Food-Nexus: Applications & Impact on Societies, Environment and Ecosystem”, 3 September 2024, Sydney, Australia

 

Papers: International Workshop on Water-Energy-Food-Nexus: Implementation and Examples of Application, Adelaide, Australia, 2022

 

Announcement

Call for Papers: International Workshop on “The Water-Energy-Food-Nexus: Applications & Impact on Societies, Environment and Ecosystem”, 03 September 2024, Sydney, Australia 

Book Release: Circular and Transformative Economy

Advances Towards Sustainable Socio-economic Transformation

Edited By: Luxon Nhamo, Sylvester Mpandeli, Stanley Liphadzi, Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi

eBook ISBN: 9781003327615, 2024, Pages 302

Membership
Sl. No. Name Email Country Position
1 Prof. Dr. Ragab Ragab ra************* United Kingdom Chair
2 Dr. K. Yella Reddy, FIE ky************* India Vice Chair
3 Dr. Mahdi Sarai Tabrizi m.************* Iran Secretary
4 Dr. Chung Feng Ding cf************* Chinese Taipei Committee Member
5 Dr. Lu Hui lu************* China Member
6 Dr. Marco Arcieri m.************* Italy Member
7 Prof. NAM Won Ho wo************* South Korea Member
8 Dr. Noppadon Kowsuvon Pr************* Thailand Member
9 Prof. Tafadzwa Mabhaudhi ma************* South Africa Member
10 Dr. Watchara Suiadee wa************* Thailand Member
11 Mr. Yukiya Saika y.************* Japan Member
12 Dr. Piyatida Ruangrassamee Pi************* Thailand Observer
13 Mr. Syaiful Mahdi sy************* Indonesia Observer
14 Prof. Dr. Sylvester Mpandeli sy************* South Africa Observer
15 Mr. Abbas Fadhel ab************* Iraq Provisional Member
16 Ir. Adang Saf Ahmad ad************* Indonesia Provisional Member
17 Dr. Amani Alfarra am************* Canada Provisional Member
18 Mr. Basim Tuama Naser ba************* Iraq Provisional Member
19 Dr. Behzad Navidi Nassaj be************* Iran Provisional Member
20 Mr. Books LIU Dongzhe bo************* China Provisional Member
21 Mr. Carl Walters ca************* Australia Provisional Member
22 Mr. Chaisri Suksaroj fe************* Thailand Provisional Member
23 Prof. Cheh-Shy Ting cs************* Chinese Taipei Committee Provisional Member
24 Dr. Deepak Khare - Direct Member kh************* India Provisional Member
25 Prof. Dr. Vishnu Prasad Pandey vi************* Nepal Provisional Member
26 Ir. Felipe Dantas fe************* Australia Provisional Member
27 Mr. John William O’Connor jo************* Australia Provisional Member
28 Dr. Junzeng Xu xj************* China Provisional Member
29 Eng. Karshiyev Rustum Jurayevih r.************* Uzbekistan Provisional Member
30 Mr. Liangsheng Shi (YP) li************* China Provisional Member
31 Dr. Luxon Nhamo lu************* South Africa Provisional Member
32 Dr. Man Singh ma************* India Provisional Member
33 Dr. Mesut Kocak mk************* Turkey Provisional Member
34 Mr. Muhammed Imran Kulat ku************* Turkey Provisional Member
35 Er. Mustafa Demir mu************* Turkey Provisional Member
36 Dr. Narges Zohrabi na************* Iran Provisional Member
37 Dr. P. Soman dr************* India Provisional Member
38 Dr. Peng-Jui Wang ar************* Chinese Taipei Committee Provisional Member
39 Prof. Dr. S. Vishnuvardhan vi************* India Provisional Member
40 Prof. Dr. Zeinab Hussien Behairy z_************* Egypt Provisional Member
41 Prof. Daniele de Wrachien da************* Italy Permanent Observer
42 Mr. Herbert H. Van Lier me************* Italy Permanent Observer

In addition to the below representatives from FAO, ICRISAT are Permanent Observers.

ARCHIVES

AGENDA/ MINUTES/ REPORTS/ PUBLICATIONS

AGENDA; MINUTES

Circular and Transformative Economy

Advances Towards Sustainable Socio-economic Transformation

Edited By: Luxon Nhamo, Sylvester Mpandeli, Stanley Liphadzi, Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi

eBook ISBN: 9781003327615, 2024, Pages 302

Proceedings of 25th ICID Congress on Irrigation and Drainage: International Workshop on the Water-Energy-Food-Nexus: Implementation, 1-8 November 2023, Visakhapatnam (Vizag), India, and 

Report on New Advances in Water Saving in Irrigation, September 4, 2023. Activity Report by Working Group on Water Food Energy Nexus (WG-WFE-N)

Biosaline Agriculture as a Climate Change Adaptation for Food Security (Redouane Choukr-Allah and Ragab Ragab (Editors). 2023)

24th ICID Congress, 2022: Proceedings - International Workshop on Water-Energy-Food-Nexus: Implementation and Examples of Application (WG-WFE-N)

Emerging Research in Alternative Crops. Springer. Environment & Policy 58 (Abdelaziz Hirich, Redouane Choukr- Alla, and Ragab Ragab (Editors). 2020)

 

Proceedings of Papers presented for International Workshop on Water-Energy-Food-Nexus: Implementation and Examples of Application, 3-10 October 2022, Adelaide, Australia

Publication on Water - Energy - Food Nexus Narratives and Resource Securities

  • Chapter 1: The water-energy-food nexus: its transition into a transformative approach (Sylvester Mpandeli, Luxon Nhamo, Aidan Senzanje, Graham Jewitt, Albert Modi, Festo Massawe, and Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi)
  • Chapter 2: Some quantitative water-energy-food nexus analysis approaches and their data requirements (Jafaru M. Egieya, Johann Görgens, and Neill Goosen)
  • Chapter 3: EO-WEF: a Earth Observations for Water, Energy, and Food nexus geotool for spatial data visualization and generation (Zolo Kiala, Graham Jewitt, Aidan Senzanje, Onisimo Mutanga, Timothy Dube, and Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi)
  • Chapter 4: Scales of application of the WEF nexus approach (Janez Susnik, Sara Masia, and Graham Jewitt)
  • Chapter 5: Tools and indices for WEF nexus analysis (Janez Susnik, Sara Masia, Graham Jewitt, and Gareth Simpson)
  • Chapter 6: Transboundary WEF nexus analysis: a case study of the Songwe River Basin (Sara Masia, Janez Susnik, Graham Jewitt, Zolo Kiala, and Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi)
  • Chapter 7: Applying the WEF nexus at a local level: a focus on catchment level (S. Walker, I. Jacobs-Mata, B. Fakudze, M.O. Phahlane, and N. Masekwana)
  • Chapter 8: A regional approach to implementing the WEF nexus: a case study of the Southern African Development Community (Patrice Kandolo Kabeya, Dumisani Mndzebele, Moses Ntlamelle, Duncan Samikwa, Alex Simalabwi, Andrew Takawira, Kidane Jembere, and Shamiso Kumbirai)
  • Chapter 9: Exploring the contribution of Tugwi-Mukosi Dam toward water, energy, and food security (Never Mujere, and Nelson Chanza)
  • Chapter 10: The water-energy-food nexus as an Approach for achieving sustainable development goals 2 (food), 6 (water), and 7 (energy) (Aidan Senzanje, M. Mudhara, and L. Tirivamwe)
  • Chapter 11: Enhancing sustainable human and environmental health through nexus planning (Luxon Nhamo, Sylvester Mpandeli1, Shamiso P. Nhamo, Stanley Liphadzi1, and Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi)
  • Chapter 12: Financing WEF nexus projects: perspectives from interdisciplinary and multidimensional research challenges (Maysoun A. Mustafa. and Christoph Hinske)
  • Chapter 13: The Water-Energy-Food nexus as a rallying point for sustainable development: emerging lessons from South and Southeast Asia (Andrew Huey Ping Tan, Eng Hwa Yap, Yousif Abdalla Abakr, Alex M. Lechner, Maysoun A. Mustafa, and Festo Massawe)
  • Chapter 14: The water-energy-food nexus: an ecosystems and anthropocentric perspective (Sally Williams, Annette Huber-Lee, Laura Forni, Youssef Almulla, Camilo Ramirez Gomez, Brian Joyce, and Francesco Fuso-Nerini)
  • Chapter 15: Water-energy-food nexus approaches to facilitate smallholder agricultural technology adoption in Africa (Michael G. Jacobson)
  • Chapter 16: Building capacity for upscaling the WEF nexus and guiding transformational change in Africa (Tendai P. Chibarabada, Goden Mabaya, Luxon Nhamo, Sylvester Mpandeli, Stanley Liphadzi, Krasposy K. Kujinga, Jean-Marie Kileshye-Onema, Hodson Makurira, Dhesigen Naidoo, and Michael G. Jacobson)
  • Chapter 17: WEF nexus narratives: toward sustainable resource security (Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, Aidan Senzanje, Albert Modi, Graham Jewitt, and Festo Massawe)

Articles related to the Water–Energy–Food Nexus from South Africa (Vice President Prof. Dr. Sylvester Mpandeli)

PRESENTATIONS

Presentations of International Workshop of “The Water-Energy-Food-Nexus: Implementation and Examples of Application”, 04 October 2022, Adelaide, Australia

1. Development of Water-Energy-Food Nexus Model for Basin-Scale Studies by Krishna Mondal Raja Babu Tantuway Chandranath Chatterjee and Rajendra Singh

2. Impact of Two Schemes on Water, Energy and Food Nexus: Examples from India by Avinash Mishra and Arunlal K.

3.  Policy Implementation to Improve Water-Energy-Food Security in Indonesia by Anissa Mayangsari Duki Malindo

4. Inter Basin Water Transfer for Sustainable Agricultural Production Systemsa Case Study of Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Project of Andhra Pradesh, India by Vennela, G, Reddy, Ky., Vishnuvardhan, S., and Khalko, D

5.  Spatial-Scale Water-Energy-Food Nexus Analysis in India – Insight from Implemented Policies by Mishra Krishna Mondal, Chandranath Chatterjee, Ashok, and Rajendra Singh

6.  Catchment Based Water-Energy-Food Nexus Assessment: Example of the Crocodile River Catchment, Mpumalanga, South Africa by Sue Walker, Inga Jacobs-Mata, Nwabisa Masekwana, Bhekiwe Fakudze, and Tendai Sawunyama

7.  Dual Use of Irrigation Water for Food Production and Hydropower Generation in Japan by Yukiya SAIKA

8.  Solar – powered micro-irrigation demonsrations for food security, youth and Women empowerment in Malawi and Zambia by Isaac R. Fandika, Cheelo H. Mudenda, Horace Kakhiwa, Herbert Kumwenda, Collin Zalengera, Grivin Chipula, Geoffrey Mwepa

9.  Application of Water-Energy-Food Nexus Framework Tools at different scales preliminary assessment by nwabisa masekwana, sue walker and Michael van der Laan

GALLERY

CONCLUDED WORKBODIES/ TECHNICAL GROUPS

AWARDS

INTERESTING LINKS

Related items you may like

Workbody
WG on Water Food Energy Nexus
Workbody
WG on Global Climate Change and Agrl. Water Mgmt.
Event
25th International Congress on Irrigation and Drai...
Event
21st International Congress on Irrigation and Drai...
Event
23rd International Congress on Irrigation and Dra...
Event
Study Visits - Achieving Food Security Using Smart...
Event
2nd WASAG International Forum...
Event
International Conference on Water Management & Cli...
Event
26th International Congress on Irrigation and Drai...
Event
14th International Drainage Workshop...
Event
2nd WASAG International Forum on Water Scarcity in...
Event
15th THAICID National e-Symposium 2022...
Event
Tea Time Talk Organized by Irrigation Water Forum ...
Event
2nd Baghdad International Water Conference (2nd BI...
Event
ICASI-2022: International Congress on Agricultural...
Event
3rd African Regional Conference on Irrigation and ...
Event
22nd International Congress on Irrigation and Drai...
Event
10th International Congress on Irrigation and Drai...
Publications
Handbook on 'The status of water use efficiency an...
Publications
Improving irrigation water use efficiency: A synth...
Publications
Third World Irrigation Forum, 1-7 September 2019, ...
Publications
Transactions - 23rd International Congress on Irri...
Publications
Manual for Performance Evaluation of Sprinkler and...
Publications
Australian Country Paper: Integrated Approaches to...
Publications
Transactions - 22nd International Congress on Irri...
Publications
Climate Change Adaptation for Irrigation and Drain...
Publications
Value Engineering for Savings in Irrigation, Drai...
Publications
Water Use Charging Systems and Available Financing...
Publications
Water Saving in Agriculture?...

Sign up for newsletter

Follow us