Global Institute for Water, Environment, and Health · 2016. 8. 15. · water consumption attributable to agricultural activities makes farmers “the main custodians of the world's

Global Institute for Water, Environment, and Health

MANAGING THE WATER-FOOD NEXUS: The importance of the integration of different forms of knowledge and

expertise

08.2014 Alice Tomaselli

GIWEH10,RueChantepoulet1201GenèveE-mail:[email protected]él:0227337511

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10 Rue de Chantepoulet, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland :: Tel : +41 22 733 75 11 :: :: Website : www.giweh.ch :: Email : [email protected] 2 | P a g e

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF ACRONYMS 3

INTRODUCTION 4

THE FOOD AND WATER NEXUS 6

The Water System 6

The Food System 7

The Nexus 9

The Dilemma 10

GLOBAL DYNAMICS 12

Global Trade 12

Demographic trends and urbanization 15

Climate Change 18

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LOCAL LEVEL 22

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INTEGRATION OF DIFFERENT KNOWLEDGES 28

Multidisciplinary 28

Exchanging knowledge 29

Given farmers the right information 31

CONCLUSIONS 37

REFERENCES 41 !!

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LIST%OF%ACRONYMS%%

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

IFPRI International Food Policy Research Institute

IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

SDGs Sustainable Development Goals

UNDP United Nations Development Program

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INTRODUCTION%%The idea of a nexus approach comes from the belief that water, food and energy are tree

extremely interconnected systems. What happen in one dimension can influence the

conditions of one or both of the other two systems.

Many international organizations are starting to recognize the importance of a nexus

approach. Looking at the “trend and development in the research landscape” it is possible

to see that between 2007 and 2011 both social science and natural science have taken into

account studies regarding the interconnection between food and water1.

But the interconnection between water and food dates back to the birth of agriculture itself.

Land and water are in fact fundamental prerequisites for agriculture production. The 70% of

water consumption attributable to agricultural activities makes farmers “the main custodians

of the world's freshwater”.2 According to FAO3 food demand will increase 50% by 2030,

requiring even more water which consumption will have to be intensified 4 . Besides,

regarding food and energy we have to notice that because of modern technology and the

industrialization process many relations have increased and more energy intervention is

required for agricultural activities and food production5.

In addition, some dynamics are going on making the stress on water resources even more

intense and difficult to manage. Besides, there is a new variable which one cannot rely on:

the climate. Its rapid change makes the relations among the systems even more complex

and unpredictable6.

Given the heterogeneity of the problem new multidisciplinary and multi-level approaches

are needed. Both academia7 experts and international organizations call for the importance

of the empowerment of the network between local communities and actors at the macro-

level. An exchange of knowledge and expertise between the formers and the latters can !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!SIWI!(2012),!The!Water!and!Food!Nexus:!Trends!and!Development!of!the!Research!Landscape.!SIWI,!Stockholm!2!SIWI!(2012),!Overarching!Conclusions,!World!Water!Week!in!Stockholm!2012:!Water!and!Food!Security.!SIWI,!Stockholm.!(p.6)!3!Bruinsma,! J.! (2003)!World!Agriculture:! Towards! 2015/2030!An! FAO!Perspective,! Earthscan!Publications! Ltd,!London!4!International!Food!Policy!Research!Institute,!http://www.ifpri.org/!5!Hanlon!P.,!Madel!R.,!OlsonXSawyer!K.,!Rabin!K.,!Rose!J.!(2013).!Food,!Water!and!Energy:!Know!the!Nexus,!GRACE,!New!York!6!Bakker!K.!(2012).!Water!Security:!Research!Challenges!and!Opportunities,!Vol.!337,!Science!7 !Wilsdon! J.! (2014)! Navigating! the! nexus! of! food,! energy,! water! and! the! environment,!http://www.theguardian.com/science/politicalXscience/2014/jun/09/scienceXpolicy!

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represent a productive option for the management of the water-food nexus given the

climate change situation. Local farmers from difficult areas have developed and

implemented extensive adaptation strategies that have enabled them to reduce vulnerability

to climate variability over the years. Without the incorporation of local knowledge, some

authors contend that environmental science and planning remain limited.

At the same time, it is clear that the role of modern science and expertise cannot be denied

and underestimated. The positive outcomes of an integration between the two different

knowledge are promising and it is essential for farmers to have access to the right

information at the right time and in the right form.

Coping with climate variability and managing the water-food nexus thanks to local

knowledge and modern science has much potential but does not lack commitment and

caution.

In the following pages, presented first will be an introduction regarding the relations that

connect food and water. But in order to address the challenge that the nexus represents it

is fundamental to know the context and the ongoing processes that are effecting it.

Therefore, global trade, urbanization, consumption patterns and climate change trends will

follow. After an explanation of the importance of a multidisciplinary approach, the essay will

then highlight the reasons why the local level can represent a promising starting point for

the action. In the end the importance -but also the difficulties- of the integration of different

types of knowledge will be described. In a situation where climate change is effecting

especially those communities with an already delicate conditions, one of the aim of this

report is to show that trying to interconnect local knowledge and scientific expertise can

give useful hints also to address the food and water nexus.

In order to do that proceedings from the most recent conferences have been analyzed,

together with UN documents, academic articles and international newspapers. In addition,

some interviews have been held in order to obtain a testimony from experts who are

working inside international organizations and agencies, and on the field.

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THE%FOOD%AND%WATER%NEXUS%%

The%Water%System%%

When talking about the food dimension, many activities, resources and people are involved

in the path that brings the food “from the farm to the table”8. Regarding water, fundamental

to fulfill human needs is the possibility to move it within and between watersheds in order to

assure agricultural, municipal, commercial, industrial and energetic requests.

Using a global vision it is possible to say that being water a renewable resource, its

presence should be generally enough to answer to the growing demand to feed the

expanding population. But at the same time, it is not well distributed around the world and

some regions are facing a temporary or permanent outstrips in the availability of it9.

BOX%1% “Water demand and availability is multifaceted”10

Green%Water%%The precipitation on land that does not run off or recharge the groundwater but is stored in

the soil is identified as green water. It is consumed thanks to its evaporation or transpiration

through plants. When green water is the main type used it is possible to talk about rain-fed

agriculture.

Blue%Water%In this case it refers to the fresh surface and groundwater (freshwater lakes, rivers and

aquifers) which can be used for irrigation agriculture.

Physical%Scarcity%%In this case “the demand outstrips the land ability to provide the needed water”11. Arid

regions are a typical example of that situation. Moreover, there are some areas where the

scarcity has been created by human activities.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!8!Hanlon!P.,!Madel!R.,!OlsonXSawyer!K.,!Rabin!K.,!Rose!J.!(2013).!Food,!Water!and!Energy:!Know!the!Nexus,!GRACE,!New!York.!p.!7!9!Ibidem!10!Manning!L.,!The!impact!of!water!quality!and!availability!on!food!production,!British!Food!Journal!Vol.!110!No.!8,!2008!pp.!762X780.!p.!762!11!The!Water!Project,!http://thewaterproject.org/water_scarcity_2!

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Economic%Scarcity%%In this case the locally present water could be enough to meet human demand but because

of “human, institutional and financial capital”12 people have a limited access to the resource.

FIGURE%1!13!

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The%Food%System%%According to FAO food security can be identify in 4 dimensions related to the sphere of

availability, access, utilization and stability:

• the availability of sufficient quantities of food of appropriate quality, supplied through

domestic production or imports;

• ·access by individuals to adequate resources (entitlements) for acquiring appropriate

foods for a nutritious diet;

• utilization of food through adequate diet, clean water, sanitation, and health care to

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!12!FAO,!http://www.fao.org/nr/water/art/2007/scarcity.html!13!Figure!from:!http://www.vestaldesign.com/blog/2009/09/waterXpoliticsXjustXhowXimportantXisXh2o/!

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reach a state of nutritional well-being where all physiological needs are met;

• stability, because to be food secure, a population, household or individual must have

access to adequate food at all times.14

The general picture shows that about 1/8 of the 7 billion population has food insecurity

because it does not meet one or more or FAO's dimensions of food security. Moreover,

there are enormous geographic differences with almost all countries in the most extreme

alarming condition situated in sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia15.

Looking at the amount of food productivity we can see how it has intensively increased in

the past years also thanks to the Green Revolution. "However, these improvements in

growth and the side-effects of that growth have been very unevenly distributed."16. In some

cases the surface of cultivated land has been amplified (for example, this is what has been

done in tropical areas with a consequences on forests); in other cases the path has been to

intensify the production of already available land but with the more intensive utilization of

water, fertilizers and energy.

A sustainable intensification of the food production is required in order to answer the

increasing demand for food that the world will have to face (while the population will

continue to increase).17

According to a Science article18 there are some limitations which prevent from a fully

acknowledge of the current state of food insecurity around the world. First of all the authors

argue that the method used to quantify unnourished people is not capable to evidence short

term changes, which are probably the most related to climate change dynamics. Another

important limitation is the fact that what is measured is the amount of calories consumption.

Nobody want of course to deny their role but as they show the fact that vitamins are not

taken into account can leave behind an underestimation of other difficulties related to bad

nutrition like physical and mental impediments caused by an unbalance of vitamins. This is

a good example regarding the fact that food security is a broad aspect and studying it, and

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!14!FAO!(2006),!Food!Security,!Policy!Brief,!Issue!2.!ftp://ftp.fao.org/es/ESA/policybriefs/pb_02.pdf!15!FAO,! (2013)! The! State! of! Food! Insecurity! in! the! World,! The! Multiple! Dimensions! of! Food! Security,! Rome!http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3434e/i3434e00.htm!16!Hoff,!H.!(2011).!Understanding!the!Nexus.!Background!Paper!for!the!Bonn!2011!Conference:!The!Water,!Energy!and!Food!Security!Nexus.!Stockholm!Environment!Institute,!Stockholm.!p.17!17!Wheeler!T.,!von!Braun!J.!(2013),!Climate!Change!Impacts!on!Global!Food!Security,!Science&341,!508!18!Ibid.!

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therefore taking action regarding it, is not devoid of challenges19.

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The%Nexus%%But what are the relations that connect water and food?

If one wants to give a basic scientific explanation regarding the relation between agriculture

and water we can notice how "Food is produced through the photosynthesis process by

which plants manufacture carbohydrates. Water constitutes one of the two required raw

materials - carbon dioxide being the other"20. Therefore, in order to continue this process

plants need to have access to the absorption of enough water. Usually the water for the

photosynthesis comes from the green water resource. But, when there is not enough green

water to guarantee a smooth process, blue water is added by irrigation21. But while "green

water is a local resource that is available to the farmer"22 blue water is contended also

among other types of activities such as industry, energy, and drinking water supply. In the

future, given the current trend in population growth, the tensions towards blue water will

increase, creating a dilemma for its allocation especially in those regions where rainfall are

scarce.

Water is one of the main inputs for food but at the same time there is also an influence

created by food production on water. Land degradation, modification of run-off and

consequences on groundwater recharge and water quality are some examples together

with other impacts on the operation of the ecosystem services23.

As a general indication one can say that on average, in order to produce one calorie of food

energy, one liter of water is required24. Of course, the productivity of water varies a lot

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!19!Moreover,! another! methodological! critic! regarding! the! nature! of! the! data! is! made:! they! underline! that!conclusions!come!from!aggregate!data,!which!can!prevent!a!better!understanding!of!the!smallholder!level!and!the!climate!change!effects!at!local!level.(see!Ibid.)!20!Jägerskog,!A.,! Jønch!Clausen,!T.! (eds.),! (2012).! Feeding! a!Thirsty!World!–!Challenges! and!Opportunities! for! a!Water!and!Food!Secure!Future.!Report!Nr.!31.!SIWI,!Stockholm!p.1!21!See!BOX!1!22!Jägerskog,!A.,! Jønch!Clausen,!T.! (eds.),! (2012).! Feeding! a!Thirsty!World! –!Challenges! and!Opportunities! for! a!Water!and!Food!Secure!Future.!Report!Nr.!31.!SIWI,!Stockholm,!p.13!23!Hoff,!H.!(2011).!Understanding!the!Nexus.!Background!Paper!for!the!Bonn!2011!Conference:!The!Water,!Energy!and!Food!Security!Nexus.!Stockholm!Environment!Institute,!Stockholm.!24!Ibid.!

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around the globe depending on the different types of crops, cropping systems, the

agricultural methods and the climates25.

The%Dilemma%%

Given the described situation, a dilemma arises. Trying to assure water availability can

compromise the attempt to gain food security and vice versa. Given the strong interrelation

between the two elements the attempts to improve one of them could threaten the other.

On one side in fact, environmental concerns regarding water are important but cannot loom

food security. On the other side, despite being a food secure world a priority, it cannot be

achieve no matter what the ecological impacts arise. The global community is starting to

agree on the fact that technological solutions alone are not enough. A broader approach is

needed and is required to take into account issues such as mismanagement, inappropriate

polices and weak governance 26 . Any strategy should consider administrative, social,

economic and political structures that enable communities to have a sustainable and

equitable growth. Before, the main concern of water polices was to find more water to use,

while now there is the awareness that it is more promising to improve the yield of water

(“more crop per drop” is the common expression used). The fact that water saving can be

improved by increasing irrigation efficiency is quite obvious. But then the idea should be to

allow the water saving procedure to not become a process being an end in itself, but to be a

new starting point for other improvements. It is “crucial that policy makers provide clear

guidance on how to beneficially use the water saved”27.

BOX%2

AREA%OF%ACTION%%It is necessary to keep in mind that since all the situations are specific not only because of

natural aspects such as territorial characteristics and climate but also because of

production systems, social capital and governance structures. For these reasons it is

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!25!Ibid.!26!SIWI!(2012),!Overarching!Conclusions,!World!Water!Week!in!Stockholm!2012:!Water!and!Food!Security.!SIWI,!Stockholm!p.12!27!Ibid.!p.6!

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difficult to identify a single solution for all the problems. We cannot expect to find panacea

or a single model applicable and immediately transferable to any situation. However, it is

possible to identify some broad areas where the solutions should come from. It will then be

the duty of actors to choose what options are more suitable for the specific contests.

Those areas are:28

-Increasing resource productivity

-using waste as a resource in multi-use systems

-stimulating development through economic incentives

-governance, institutions and policy

-benefiting from productive ecosystems

-integrated poverty alleviation and green growth

-capacity building and awareness raising

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!28!The!suggested!areas!are!from:!Hoff,!H.!(2011).!Understanding!the!Nexus.!Background!Paper!for!the!Bonn!2011!Conference:!The!Water,!Energy!and!Food!Security!Nexus.!Stockholm!Environment!Institute,!Stockholm.!p.36!

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GLOBAL%DYNAMICS%%

Global%Trade%%

In order to explain some dynamics related to food availability and water scarcity great hints

come from the phenomena of globalization. As it is obvious, pros and cons are embedded

in the process. Different countries can use global trade to improve their situation but also

need to take action in order to do not suffer from its negative outcomes.

Development can gain many potential benefits from international trade. More

interconnected markets, movement of investments, easier access to technology for

innovations and a more efficiency usage of resources are just some examples.

Regarding food availability, an intensive global exchange can be a potential solution to

reduce local scarcity. Lacks can be compensated by the use of imported food from more

agriculture productive areas29. This is, for example, the case of the MENA region30, which is

strongly depended on food import. Food import which also means virtual water import. This

concept regards the existence of a hidden flow of water behind each commodities; so the

movement of food embeds the movement of an important amount of water. In order to

improve the situation of food availability around the world it is not fundamental that all areas

increase their production. Quite the opposite, also in the respect of the nexus approach,

some areas should re-dimension their production and rethink land and water allocation31. It

is counter-productive to consider self-sufficiency as the only possible answer32.

When agriculture self-sufficiency cannot be achieved, importing food is actually more

sustainable than intensive over exploitation of already scarce local resources. The aim is to

move food from areas with availability of water and import it where there is water scarcity33.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!29!“the!traded!percentage!of!food!produced!has!grown!globally!from!about!10%!in!1970!to!15%!in!2000”!in!Hoff,!H.! (2011).!Understanding! the!Nexus.!Background!Paper! for! the!Bonn!2011!Conference:!The!Water,!Energy!and!Food!Security!Nexus.!Stockholm!Environment!Institute,!Stockholm.!p.8!30 World! Bank,! (2008),! Dealing! with! water! scarcity! in! the! MENA! Region,!http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/MENAEXT/0,,contentMDK:21872903~menuPK:247603~pagePK:2865106~piPK:2865128~theSitePK:256299,00.html!!31!Garnett!T.!et!alt.!(2013),!Suistainable!Intensification!in!Agriculture:!Premises!and!Policies,!Science,!Vol.!341!pp.!33X34!32!There!is!the!risk!to!create!a!“water!bubble”!where!“food!production!is!inflated!through!the!unsustainable!use!of!water! and! land”! (from! da! Brown,! L.R.! (2003),! Emerging! Water! Shortages:! A! Food! Bubble! Economy,! Plan! B:!Rescuing!a!Planet!Under!Stress!and!a!Civilization!in!Trouble,!Earth!Policy!Institute!)!33!Jägerskog,!A.,! Jønch!Clausen,!T.! (eds.),! (2012).! Feeding! a!Thirsty!World!–!Challenges! and!Opportunities! for! a!Water!and!Food!Secure!Future.!Report!Nr.!31.!SIWI,!Stockholm!

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But, at the same time, this intensive level of trade and financial interconnections can also

externalize unwanted effects. When everything is shared, also disturbances and shocks

can spread quite fast (e.g. food price shocks).

Moreover it is important to remember that the potential of mitigating local scarcity using

international trade can hide unequal dynamics. Sometimes, in fact, also resources

extraction and waste products are externalized. This means that bad practices or unwanted

products are exported in other regions, making the more environmental friendly attitude

only an appearance. “Therefore apparently positive bends in national environmental

‘Kuznets curves’ (i.e. as a country grows wealthier it reduces its resource use intensity) may

in fact only reflect the externalization to other regions”34

Regarding the opportunity to acquire products on the global market, this is not limited to the

exchange of final goods. Many developing countries in fact have started to delocalize and

to acquire factors of production outside their national boundaries. China, India and some

Arab countries have been acquiring agricultural land abroad in order to satisfy their

increasing food demand35. This puts in even a more difficult situation those areas where

people are already starving and where they will see their scarce resources taken away.

This process causes an important socio/economics impact on local people's livelihoods,

making even more difficult to gain access to land, water and food.

Moreover, this also means that areas with water and land are controlled by a power which

is located far away from the resources. This situation can prevent the traditional trade

dynamics and principles to take place. Some authors underline how these phenomena can

have both a promising and damaging effect. In the former case it could give the possibility

to some “stagnant” areas to be destination of investments, but at the same time, the project

to reduce food insecurity might be slowed down36. Land and water grabbing, as this

phenomena is identified, call the attention for an improvement of the capacity of institutions

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!34!Hoff,!H.!(2011).!Understanding!the!Nexus.!Background!Paper!for!the!Bonn!2011!Conference:!The!Water,!Energy!and!Food!Security!Nexus.!Stockholm!Environment!Institute,!Stockholm.!p8!35!“Foreign! direct! investment! (FDI)! has! become! a! major! driver! of! change! in! many! developing! countries.! For!example,!more! than!200!million!hectares,!or!between!2!and!20%!of!agricultural! land! in! subXSaharan!countries,!have!been!sold!or!leased!over!the!past!few!years,!or!are!currently!being!negotiated!over!to!help!meet!the!rapidly!growing!demand!for!food,!feed!and!other!bioXresources!in!particular!from!China,!India!and!some!Arab!countries”!from!Ibid.!pp.8X9!36!Jägerskog,! A.,! Jønch! Clausen,! T.(eds.),! (2012).! Feeding! a! Thirsty!World! –! Challenges! and!Opportunities! for! a!Water!and!Food!Secure!Future.!Report!Nr.!31.!SIWI,!Stockholm!

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to deal with these risks37. !

Another issue related to the global transnational dimensions of water resources concerns

the fact that very often river basins are shared among different national authorities. The

challenge here is to assure that the management of scarce water availability can procure

shared benefits for all the parties involved.

Food trade has all the potentials to play an important role in order to contribute to a better

sharing of global resources. It is important to increase trade relations in agricultural

commodities in order to give the possibilities to all farmers to be part of the big systems, but

at the same time this involvement needs to be shaped to work properly. Smallholders in fact

have not enough access to markets and the bargaining power they have needs to be

empowered. Modern information technologies and government regulations are some

examples of how smallholder’s involvement could happen38. Another issue that arise when

talking about that is the matter regarding the increase and volatility of the world market

prices of food. Besides, it is interesting to notice that this dynamic can effect urban and rural

poor in different ways.

In the end it is possible to say that globalization processes do have the capacity to improve

technological innovation sharing, to intensify trades and foreign direct investments and to

assure resources in the areas where they are lacking, see virtual water flow as an example.

However to be externalized have not only the potential benefits but also many risks. In fact

all the regions which take part to the game are exposed to shocks and failures. “The main

challenge under these constraints will be to reconcile long-term and global objectives (e.g.

climate protection, ecosystem stewardship and equity goals) not only with immediate

economic benefits, but also with the need to secure local livelihoods and the non-negotiable

human rights to water and food understanding the nexus.39”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!37!Some! examples! are! “secure! property! rights;! transparency! and! accountability! of! contracts;! participation!through! free,! prior! and! informed! consent;! and! effective! antiXcorruption! measures.”! From! Hoff,! H.! (2011).!Understanding!the!Nexus.!Background!Paper!for!the!Bonn!2011!Conference:!The!Water,!Energy!and!Food!Security!Nexus.!Stockholm!Environment!Institute,!Stockholm.!p.9!38!N.!V.!Fedoroff!et!al.!(2010);!Radically!Rethinking!Agriculture!for!the!21st!Century,!Science&327,!833X834!39!Hoff,!H.!(2011).!Understanding!the!Nexus.!Background!Paper!for!the!Bonn!2011!Conference:!The!Water,!Energy!and!Food!Security!Nexus.!Stockholm!Environment!Institute,!Stockholm.!p.4!

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Demographic%Trends%and%Urbanization%%

The urbanization process is continuing without slackening40. And while in theory services

should be more easily accessible and more efficiently available in the cities, the reality is

that 1 billion of the population who lives in urban areas are condemned to difficult

conditions41 “There are currently 1 billion slum dwellers (projected to increase to 2 billion by

2030) who are especially food insecure and disconnected from (or dependent on highly

over-priced) government water and energy services”42. Besides, the density of population in

the cities is stronger compared to the rural areas43.

Moreover, this contests are expression of a specific life style where big space is given to

habits with an intensive resource consumption impact and high production of waste.

In addition, there is also a positive trend for the general wellbeing, which is the fact that the

middle class is getting bigger, allowing a big part of the population to have access to

specific consumption patterns. But those behaviors, despite having been desired for long

time, are not bearer of environmental friendly attitudes. Related with the urbanization

process it is possible to look at the case of China, where people are moving to cities and

where “The challenge for agriculture and the environment is that this new middle class is

demanding what middle class residents the world over have always demanded: more meat

and dairy.”44

Many experts have underlined the implications of an intensive consumption of meat also in

relation with its impact on water resources45.

Moreover it is important to remember that urban and rural areas are not two separated

dimensions, in fact they influence each other contemporarily. This means that bad

agricultural practices implemented in rural areas can have problematic effects on the cities, !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!40!“Continuing!urbanization,! often!driven!by!deteriorating! rural! living! conditions! and! a! quest! for! a! ‘better! life’,!means! that! city! dwellers! now! account! for! 50%! of! the! total! global! population.!With! about! 800,000! new! urban!residents!every!week,!that!proportions!projected!to!reach!70%!by!2050”!from!Ibid.!p.7!41!According!to!Sean!Fox!of!the!London!School!of!Economics,!“Over!60%!of!SubXSaharan!Africa’s!urban!population!lives!in!slum!conditions;!the!highest!level!of!‘slum!incidence’!of!any!major!world!region.”!Fox!S.(2013)The!Political!Economy!of!Slums:!Theory!and!Evidence! from!Sub!Saharan!Africa,!No.13X146!London!School!of!Economics!and!Political!Science,!London!42!Hoff,!H.!(2011).!Understanding!the!Nexus.!Background!Paper!for!the!Bonn!2011!Conference:!The!Water,!Energy!and!Food!Security!Nexus.!Stockholm!Environment!Institute,!Stockholm.!43!Cities!account!for!about!75%of!all!greenhouse!gas!emissions!from!Ibid.!44!Orts!E.,!Spigonardo!J.!(2013)!The!Nexus!of!Food,!Energy!and!Water,!Wharton!School,!University!of!Pennsylvania,!USA!p.!12!45!See!BOX!3!

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especially regarding water quality. Inside this scenario, an interesting hint for the nexus

approach comes from the opportunity to create integrated planning to manage the

infrastructure for water, wastewater and energy. Since cities are not isolated from their

hinterland and rural areas around them, they should also mediate regarding offering

markets for agricultural products, recycling waste products, and endorse nexus approach in

the peri/urban areas in terms of agriculture and landscaping46.

Virtual water is a protagonist also in this case if we consider that most of the products used

from urban areas come from areas extremely far away creating a disconnection between

the source of the resources and the place where they are consumed. This also involves the

matter of transportation needed to move all these goods.

At the same time, cities represent many prospective. Using the economies of scale they

can offer interesting ideas for a sustainable development using the city as the center for

economic and knowledge47. Many potentials can come from cities in order to address the

water and food nexus. Of course the complexity of the relations can be intimidating, but

since it might represent a great basin where to draw possible solutions for a good planning

and management it is definitely worth to be taken into account48.

BOX%3

FOOD%WASTE%AND%CONSUMPTION%PATTERNS%According to some authors, the global food production is already meeting the calories

demand necessary to assure a fair nutrition for everybody. But despite this achievement,

food security is still a big issue.

Related to that, the problem of food waste deserve some comments.

In the US for example the amount of food squandered represent between one-quarter to

one-half of the more than 590 billion pound of food produced each year.49.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!46!Hoff,!H.!(2011).!Understanding!the!Nexus.!Background!Paper!for!the!Bonn!2011!Conference:!The!Water,!Energy!and!Food!Security!Nexus.!Stockholm!Environment!Institute,!Stockholm.!47!“because!they!are!economic!and!knowledge!centers,!and!have!lower!perXcapita!infrastructure!costs!and!more!localized!transportation!needs!compared!to!rural!areas”.!From!Ibidem!p.7!48!Jägerskog,!A.,! Jønch!Clausen,!T.! (eds.),! (2012).! Feeding! a!Thirsty!World!–!Challenges! and!Opportunities! for! a!Water!and!Food!Secure!Future.!Report!Nr.!31.!SIWI,!Stockholm!p.!36!49 Bloom!J.!(2011)!Americans!Waste!Enough!Food!to!Fill!a!90,000Xseat!Football!Stadium!Every!DayXWhat!Can!We!Do!About!It?!Available!at!http://www.alternet.org/story/152429/americans_waste_enough_food_to_fill_a_90%2C000Xseat_football_stadium_every_day_XX_what_can_we_do_about_it!

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What is alarming is that when wasting food also all the resources, water included, used to

produce it get wasted.

The moments when most of the food goes to garbage is different between developed and

developing countries.

Regarding the wastage that occur at the consumer side, researches shows that the reasons

need to be found in "food spoilage, overcooking, plate waste and over-purchasing" and also

in the misinterpretation over the "use-by" and "best-by" dates.50

But an important amount of food waste also occurs on the production side, where

sometimes crops remain harvested or unsold because they do not meet the "appearance

requirement" of supermarkets and consumers.

“Given the water- and energy-intensive nature of growing, processing, packaging,

warehousing, transporting and preparing food, it follows that wasted food means wasted

water, energy and agricultural resources”51. In a period where all three are under pressure it

is not wise to just waste it.

In order to reduce losses there are of course some costs to shoulder (e.g. investments in

improved storage and transport). But the positive gains can make it worth. It is in fact good

not only for an environmental perspective “Solutions to reduce losses and waste are

relevant from a corporate perspective, from a natural resources use perspective and for

society at large.”52

Moreover, specific consumption patterns of the middle class have been spreading. The diet

is an important example. Meat and dairy products are requested from always a bigger size

of population. While on one side this is the signal of the improving situation of many people,

at the same time it is not promising for the environment. An important amount of resources

are required for the production of these items. The livestock business is among the most

damaging sectors to the earth’s increasingly scarce water resources, contributing among

other things to water pollution, euthropication and the degeneration of coral reefs. The

major polluting agents are animal wastes, antibiotics and hormones, chemicals from

tanneries, fertilizers and the pesticides used to spray feed crops. Widespread overgrazing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!50!Hanlon!P.,!Madel!R.,!OlsonXSawyer!K.,!Rabin!K.,!Rose!J.!(2013).!Food,!Water!and!Energy:!Know!the!Nexus,!GRACE,!New!York!p!13!51 Ibid.!p.13!!52!Jägerskog,!A.,!Jønch!Clausen,!T.!(eds.),!(2012).!Feeding!a!Thirsty!World!–!Challenges!and!Opportunities!for!a!Water!and!Food!Secure!Future.!Report!Nr.!31.!SIWI,!Stockholm!p.36!

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disturbs water cycles, reducing replenishment of above and below ground water resources.

Significant amounts of water are withdrawn for the production of feed.53. But generalizations

should be avoided. In some situations in fact, where livestock are fed with natural grass

(which means using just the present blue water) does not represent a problem. Attention

should instead be paid to intensive activities54.

Climate%Change%%

The path toward a world without hunger is constantly put at risk by climate change. The

yield of crop productivity bears the dynamics of climate and this can have important effects

on food availability. Short-term instability in supply caused by climate unpredictability can

threat the entire food systems. Despite the impossibility to connect every single impact to

the specific climate change occurred55, the situation is expected to be even more affected

on the local scale, both with direct and indirect effects. The areas which are already facing

difficulties such as malnutrition will in fact meet an exacerbation of the food insecurity level.

Water accessibility is definitely an element able to impair food availability leading to

collateral effects on household health quality.

The impact fostered by climate change will involve both sides of the food chain on the

supply and on the demand prospective. Global and local impacts will occur, with the latter

effecting already very vulnerable small farmers who have to rely on their local private

production.

The fact that the global temperature is been raising during years cannot be doubt. The

reason of this change can be attribute both to human activities and natural courses. Carbon

dioxide and methane, commonly known as greenhouse gases, have been emitted more

intensely in the last years56. Scientific experts have recognize the existence of a link

between the greenhouse increase and global warming. Besides, also the change in land-

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!53!FAO,!(2006)!Livestock!a!major!threat!to!environment.!Remedies!urgently!needed!available!at!http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/News/2006/1000448/index.html!54!Wooley!J.!(2014),!Personal!Interview!55!Field!C.,2014!Personal!speech!at!the!Presentation!of!the!WGII!&!III!contributions!to!the!AR5!Report,!Geneva!56!Carbon!dioxide!(CO2)!levels!in!the!atmosphere!have!increased!from!about!284!ppm!in!1832!to!397!ppm!in!2013!from!Wheeler!T.,!von!Braun!J.!(2013),!Climate!Change!Impacts!on!Global!Food!Security,!Science&341,!508X513p.4!

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use, together with the more consistent burning of fossil fuels, has conducted to a rise of the

temperatures.

Despite the relation between human activities and global warming is by now confirmed, not

all the effects and dynamics can be predicted for sure. While it is estimated that the

summer Asian monsoon rainfall may increase, and that parts of North and southern Africa57

could become drier, the scientific community is not yet able to produce satisfactory model to

represent the global hydrology cycle in order to predict how rainfall patterns will change. On

the other side it is largamente accepted the fact that the rise of the sea-level will exacerbate

the risk of flood in coastal regions where agricultural lands will be the more damage.

Moreover, it is important to remember that the warming and its effects will not be evenly

spread across the world. In fact, some areas like the ones closer to oceans, the poles, and

arid regions will be more effected by these changing forces. Tropical lands can meet the

worst outcomes while areas at higher latitudes will be less effected. This means that the

areas that are already suffering for food instability will be the most vulnerable to climate

change.

When talking about food security is therefore obvious that the role that climate change

could play cannot be forget, especially because agriculture is part of the problem/solution

and is extremely sensitive to climate variability. Crop production is estimated to be effected

by greenhouse gases and also livestock health can be damage from these emissions. !

Also in this case the intensity of the effects will change from one area to another, depending

also on the degree of warming increasing and on the changing in rainfall patterns.

In the end, we can see that climate change is expected to have a variety of consequences

on all of the four dimensions of food security recognized by the FAO. These effects could

be both direct and indirect, and the latter will be even more difficult to identify, and

therefore, as it happens for all the indirect consequences of climate change, it will be even

more difficult to find a solution. Thanks to the improvement of the knowledge regarding the

effects of climate change during the last 20 years scientist have a better understanding of

the effects of climate change on crop plant physiology and can do more simulation in order

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!57!“A! recent! systematic! review!of! changes! in! the! yields! of! the!major! crops! grown!across!Africa! and! South!Asia!under!climate!change!found!that!average!crop!yields!may!decline!across!both!regions!by!8%!by!the!2050s!(28).!Across!Africa,!yields!are!predicted!to!change!by!–17%!(wheat),!–5%!(maize),!–15%!(sorghum),!and!–10%!(millet)!and,!across!South!Asia,!by!–16%!(maize)!and!–11%!(sorghum)!under!climate!change.”from!Ibid.!p.511!

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to make predictions.58

There is the need to “address food security in its broadest sense and to [integrate it] into the

development of agriculture worldwide. Building agricultural resilience, or climate-smart

agriculture,”59 through improvements in technology and management systems is a key part

of this, but will not be sufficient on its own to achieve global food security. The whole food

system needs to adjust to climate change, with strong attention also to trade, stocks, and to

nutrition and social policy options.

Climate adaptation measures, such as intensified irrigation or additional water desalination,

are often energy intensive. Thus climate policies can impact on water, energy and food

security, and adaptation action can in fact be maladaptive if not well aligned in a nexus

approach and implemented by appropriately interlinked institutions.60

The worst consequences are expected to happen in areas where the conditions are already

uncertain. This will put the population who is already vulnerable in an even more difficult

situation where the capacity to develop resilient techniques will be reduce making them

even more vulnerable. Food inequality will also increase. As was previously said, climate

change is affecting different areas with different intensity which will create disparity in how

food availability is present around different regions, and between rural and urban

communities.61

Making a note regarding the macroeconomic aspect of climate change impact on food

security it is possible to say that future price trends and short-term variability or prices can

be put at risk because of climate unpredictability. Also in this case poor people will be the

more sensitive to the high and volatile food prices62.

When trying to connect food security, water availability and climate change there are some

dynamics that appear as obvious, while others, more indirect, need a more careful analysis.

Some example are the effects on the availability and quality of water. Furthermore, flooding

and drought have not only direct effects on food issues (crop damage) .In fact, because of

bad hygienic conditions, many diseases could spread and make difficult for people to

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!58!Ibidem!59!Ibidem!p.513!60!Hoff,!H.!(2011).!Understanding!the!Nexus.!Background!Paper!for!the!Bonn!2011!Conference:!The!Water,!Energy!and!Food!Security!Nexus.!Stockholm!Environment!Institute,!Stockholm.!61!Wheeler!T.,!von!Braun!J.!(2013),!Climate!Change!Impacts!on!Global!Food!Security,!Science&341,!508X513!62!Ibid.!

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integrate all the nutritional substances.

It is therefore required to achieve a holistic understand of the relation of climate change and

food security in order to make sure that also indirect effects are taken into account. !

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THE%IMPORTANCE%OF%THE%LOCAL%LEVEL%%Many organizations, agencies and researchers underline the importance to observe

agricultural production and water management using a local lens. “Food scarcity manifest

itself locally, so efforts to alleviate it must be tailored to the local circumstances. To do

otherwise is akin to doctoring a sick person on the basis of global health statistics”63. With

this nice expression the authors of Science want to put the focus on the fact that even if

food scarcity and climate change are definitely a global phenomenon, their manifestations

are not uniformly spread across the world and the ways they took place vary in terms of

nature intensity and calamity.

For this reason it is overall accepted that the right level to act in order to reduce the

dysfunctions of the food-water nexus is the local one. The idea is to recognize each

specification of the general problem. An example is soil erosion which cannot be described

as the most serious problem at a global level but in some specific situation it represents the

main threat to the agriculture production of some communities.

The household should receive more recognition as a fundamental center for many

decisions regarding numerous elements such as local natural resources. For this reason in

order to assure the improvement of food security the adoption of “a local, contemporary

lens”64 is fundamental.

At the same time, it is obvious that households cannot be understood as isolated and when

taking them into consideration a further contextualization is required. Local level should be

seen as a starting point that need then to be upscale and interconnected both parallel with

other local bodies and vertically with national, regional and global institutions. “Threats to

environmental security very often come allied to institutional failure. Thus, when thinking

about environmental security, particular attention needs to be given to the institutions in

which individuals, households, firms, and communities go about their business”65. !!

“Small is beautiful66” say the paper for the preparation for the Stockholm International Water

Week regarding Water and Food Nexus. It calls the attention on the importance of small

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!63!Ibid.!64!Daily!G.,!et!alt.!(1998)!Food!Production,!Population!Growth,!and!the!Environment,!Vol.!281!no.!5381!pp.!1291X1292,!Science!65!Ibid.!66!Jägerskog,!A.,!Jønch!Clausen,!T.!(eds.),!(2012).!Feeding!a!Thirsty!World!–!Challenges!and!Opportunities!for!a!Water!and!Food!Secure!Future.!Report!Nr.!31.!SIWI,!Stockholm!p.20!

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farmers’ involvement in agriculture water management. Talking for example about the

irrigation sector very often farmers’ contribution used to be underestimated. But now some

organizations started to recognize that small farmers have the willingness to invest and

ameliorate the irrigation systems of their farms. Most of the irrigated area in South Asia, for

instance, depends on privately owned and managed wells.67 At the light of that it is

important to take action and work for the promotion of irrigation solutions and technologies

that can be suitable for smallholders. But some of the difficulties here are for instance

related to the market inefficiencies which would require an intervention from the state in

order to regulate the issue. Besides, extremely important in this sense is the transfer of

knowledge and the fact that all farmers, men and women 68 should have access to

information regarding technics and practices69.

BOX%4

THE%IMPORTANCE%OF%WOMEN%The expression "gender gap" refers to the difference existing between man and women in

terms of access to productive resources. Despite the fact that women give an important

contribution to agriculture production their work is often underestimated. According to

FAO70 women's involvement should be better valued because full of potentials. Data

changes depending on the area and on the types of crops, but with a 43% of the

agricultural labor force represented by women, the promises of their support should not be

in question.

"Female farmers produce less than male farmers, but not because they are less-efficient

farmers: extensive empirical evidence shows that the productivity gap between male and

female farmers is caused by differences in input use. If women had the same access to

productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20–30 per

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!67!Ibidem!68!See!BOX!4!69!“Supporting! smallholder! agricultural! management! can! leverage! an! existing,! farmerXdriven! trend! largely!ignored! by! investors.! Farmers’! genuine! interest! is! demXonstrated! by! their! willingness! to! initiate! and! finance!irrigation! themselves.! Without! the! need! for! large! infraXstructure! (dams,! canals,! distribution! devices)! upfront!investment!costs!are!low.!Technologies!suitable!for!smallholders!are!available.!Compared!to!public!or!community!managed!schemes,!the!organisational!aspects!are!simple!and!profit!margins!are!high.”!From!Jägerskog,!A.,! Jønch!Clausen,!T.!(eds.),!(2012).!Feeding!a!Thirsty!World!–!Challenges!and!Opportunities!for!a!Water!and!Food!Secure!Future.!Report!Nr.!31.!SIWI,!Stockholm!p.20!70!In!Jägerskog,!A.,!Jønch!Clausen,!T.!(eds.),!(2012).!Feeding!a!Thirsty!World!–!Challenges!and!Opportunities!for!a!Water!and!Food!Secure!Future.!Report!Nr.!31.!SIWI,!Stockholm!p.26!

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cent"71 If the gender gap is closed, important benefits would be gained by the agricultural

sector and all the development processes of the society. More inclusion should be assured

to women in order to give them the space they deserve and to make sure that they can fully

exploit the potentials they have to contribute to rural development.

Issues regarding agriculture water management are also touched by the need to overcome

the gender gap. Women are in fact often not involved in decision-making process regarding

new agricultural water management approaches, land and resource allocation.

The fundamental role of women is also revealed in the management of domestic water

where women and girls have to spend a considerable amount of time fetching water. Taking

into account this fact, and investing on technology and closer water sources will lead to

many improvements. Women could in fact dedicate their time to other activities. It is

important to remember that long-term indirect benefits are included here. We can think for

instance to the education. For example, after the construction of water sources in some

rural areas of Morocco women and girls had to dedicate up to 90 per cent time less to fetch

water with a rise of school attendance of 20%72.

Some attempts in this direction have been done, by trying to insert the issue of gender gap

in the development agenda. Of course moving from theory to practice is not that easy and

more effort still needs to be done in order to achieve a full recognition of women’s role in

agriculture and water management.

Given all the relevant advantages that women could bring, a situation where they are still

less likely to own land than man, where they keep fewer livestock, where they have to deal

with a greater overall workload without having access to agricultural information and

financial services is just a wasted resources "Promoting gender equality is not only good for

women; it is also good for agricultural development and for poverty and hunger reduction"73

In doing that it is important though to be aware that an uncoordinated private irrigation

sector have potential negative effects. This is an area with many potentials and that should

not be left developing alone. Appropriate public interventions are required in order to gain

all the possible improvement stallholders' irrigation projects can give to food security and

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!71!Ibid.!p.27!72!Ibid.!73!Ibid.,!p.26!

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poverty diminishment.

In order to gain benefits from acting on that local level it is necessary to take into account

the limitation that these farmers have to overcome. In order to do so it is necessary to

consider some limits that small farmers need to face in order to do their activity. They have

in fact to deal with suboptimal conditions, where the access to resources is not granted.

Besides many losses tend to make the already instable situation even more difficult.

Moreover it is possible to say that some of the reasons also come from the fact that there is

a poor access to information regarding important element such as irrigation solutions,

seeds, market options and tools74.

Small farmers can be described as “water stewards”, since they are expression of a

“genuine interest” of starting and finance with their own resources irrigation project. The

idea is that since there is already a strong base of willingness to contribute, working

together with small farmers is worth it75. This means that also from an economic point of

view the initial costs could be contained while the expected profits could be high. Small

farmers would need to have better access to market and at the same time be properly

protected by specific policy with the aim to reduce poverty and assure a sustainable

development. Hydro resources cannot in fact be compromise in the name of an increase of

the agriculture production. Afterwards, the benefits regarding a good irrigation are obviously

fundamental in order to assure water waste and a sustainable achievement of food security.

Regarding the importance of a multilevel collaboration this should also include public and

private partnership. This can be doable both at national level where some countries cannot

afford intensive business projects, but also at a smaller levels. !

Looking at the smallholder level also allows to better understand climate change dynamics

and to capture the information regarding adaptation-capability. Some authors call for the

need of an adaptation that occurs at the local level, different from farm to farm in order to

develop better/adopted crop improvement programs76. !

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!74!SIWI!(2012),!Overarching!Conclusions,!World!Water!Week!in!Stockholm!2012:!Water!and!Food!Security.!SIWI,!Stockholm!75!Ibid.!76!“GlobalXscale!climate!change!impacts!at!a!grid!scale!of!200!to!250!km!can!provide!useful!information!on!shifts!in!production!zones!and!perhaps!guide!the!focus!of!global!crop!improvement!programs!seeking!to!develop!betterXadapted!crop!varieties.!However,!much!of!the!adaptation!of!agricultural!practice!to!climate!change!will!be!driven!by! decisions! at! the! farm! and! farmXenterprise! scale.! These! decisions! need! much! finer! resolution! information”!Wheeler!T.,!von!Braun!J.!(2013),!Climate!Change!Impacts!on!Global!Food!Security,!Science!341,!508X513!p.511!

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But at the same time since climate change is not an isolated event and that many

complications cut different regions, using only a micro focus can prevent from a fully

understanding. A promising method could be an integrated approach, where micro and

macro are interchangeable lens used to better focus this complex phenomena. They are

therefore complementary approaches that need to be used together in order to understand

food security issues

Experts agree on the fact that the smallholder level should be the starting point for policy

making intervention. Intervention that should then be enlarged using a broader vision. An

interesting point also refer to what some authors have called the “human aspect” in relation

to food security and climate change adaptability. At the end of the day in fact, people are

the one who drives the system and who oriented their behavior according to their feeling in

relation to climate change77.

“In a rapidly globalizing world, good governance of the water and food security system –

securing the institutions, information and investments – call for improvements at all scales,

from the local through the national and regional to the global level.”78 !

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!77!Wheeler!T.,!von!Braun!J.!(2013),!Climate!Change!Impacts!on!Global!Food!Security,!Science&341,!508X513!78 Jägerskog,!A.,! Jønch!Clausen,!T.! (eds.),! (2012).! Feeding!a!Thirsty!World!–!Challenges!and!Opportunities! for! a!Water!and!Food!Secure!Future.!Report!Nr.!31.!SIWI,!Stockholm!p.12!

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BOX%5

GLOBAL%WATER%SOLIDARITY%The same idea regarding the importance of starting to act at the local level is shared also to

the UNDP and his project Global Water Solidarity.

But they also highlight the importance to adopt a holistic approach79. “Water cooperation

interventions must be part of a coordinated multi-actor, multilevel and multi-sector effort that

takes into account the environmental, social and economic dimensions of Sustainable

Human Development”80. The second step is in fact to upscale the practices and try to

interconnect the local reality with other levels. The interconnection should occur on a

parallel level with an exchange between territories but also on the vertical line with other

institutional levels.

In its activity of being a knowledge hub, the Global Water Solidarity initiative well puts the

accent on the important of promoting knowledge exchange in order to enhance the transfer

of expertise and competencies. Important in this sense is the “mapping of who can do what

and where”81The idea is to maintain efficient and avoid overlapping actions regarding water

issues without wasting resources.

“When information is interpreted, understood and applied, when it is acted upon and added

to previous knowledge new knowledge is created” 82 . And this new pondered and

constructed knowledge is fundamental for water management and food security.

Agricultural water management issues are extremely specific and a specific particularistic

solution is needed. This is also the view of UNDP which tries to give “concrete responses to

local needs” and the projects are “adapted to each and every territory's reality”83

Moreover, also the importance of peer/to peer knowledge exchange is recognized from

UNDP which sees how “pooling, reinforcing and transferring capacities and know how is

more contextualized and localized”84 when it is conducted between same levels actors,

institutions and agencies.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!79!Draganic!I.!(2014),!Personal!Interview!80!UNDP,!2013,!Practice!Guidelines;!Decentralized!cooperation,!Water!and!Sanitation!p.23!81!Draganic!I.,!2014,!Personal!Interview!82!UNDP,!2013,!Practice!Guidelines;!Decentralized!cooperation,!Water!and!Sanitation!p.46!83!Ibidem,!p.48!84!Ibidem,!p.!

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THE%IMPORTANCE%OF%THE%INTEGRATION%OF%DIFFERENT%KNOWLEDGES%%

MULTIDISCIPLINARY%%

In order to address the issues of the nexus a multidisciplinary approach is required. The

expertise should be built on a new understanding of the fact that “management of water

resources cannot be done by sole water professionals likewise management of land cannot

be done by sole land users” 85 in these direction different organizations from both

agricultural and water sector should cooperate and complement each other. An example of

that principle regards MENA regions where there is the importance to create a collaboration

between the ministry of water and the ministry of agriculture. Given the strong relations that

they have and the fact that the issues they are working on are extremely related an

autonomous action is not productive86 . It is fundamental to find the entry point to insert

nexus analysis into policy debates and to include nexus studies in the already existent

policies.

A push should also come from the academic environment. Different disciplinary approaches

should be encourage and social and natural science should try to mutually reinforce each

other87.Talking about a multidisciplinary nexus approach in this contest obviously means to

take into account also all the issues related to climate change and development. Food

security, climate adaptation, development, human health, they all influence each other,

which means that also solutions are to be found among all of them contemporaneously.

As common for many environmental policies, it is often difficult to take action based on

certain evaluations. Predicting, which are usually based on the knowledge we have on the

past, are not doable any more. The past in fact is no more a reliable elements to use to

foresee dynamics that are constantly and unpredictably changing because of climate

effects88.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!85!SIWI!(2012),!Overarching!Conclusions,!World!Water!Week!in!Stockholm!2012:!Water!and!Food!Security.!SIWI,!Stockholm!p.8!86!But! some!authors! recognize! that!also! in! the!MENA!region!awareness! regarding! the! importance!of! creating!a!“body!or!research!on!cross/sectoral!collaborations”!from!Hoff,!H.!(2011).!Understanding!the!Nexus.!Background!Paper! for! the! Bonn! 2011! Conference:! The! Water,! Energy! and! Food! Security! Nexus.! Stockholm! Environment!Institute,!Stockholm.!p.2!87!SIWI!(2012)!The!Water!and!Food!Nexus:!Trends!and!Development!of!the!Research!Landscape.!SIWI,!Stockholm!88!SIWI!(2012),!Overarching!Conclusions,!World!Water!Week!in!Stockholm!2012:!Water!and!Food!Security.!SIWI,!Stockholm!p.15!

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"Water plays key roles in agriculture, health, economic development, urbanization, energy

production, international affairs and the fulfilment of human rights"89. Water represent

therefore a great field were challenges and solutions can come from different areas and

where links should be created. Given the nature of the challenges of the scenario it is clear

that silos approaches and isolated ways of thinking are obsoleted ad completely inefficient.

EXCHANGING%KNOWLEDGE%%

“Some call it local knowledge, others indigenous knowledge, while many prefer traditional

knowledge. [But] whatever the terminology being used, it is understood that we are talking

about knowledge held by local people, outside the formal scientific domain.”90 The main

idea here is to find a common ground where scientific and local knowledge can find

solutions for climate-change adaptation. The main goal is to "supplement and enrich

scientific data"91 by integrating local knowledge.

But "drawing on traditional knowledge to supplement hard science is still largely uncharted

territory"92. Of course the actual integration of the two expertise does not come easily and

conflicts between the two need to find attention in order to be reconciled.

The differences between the two types of knowledge can in fact create problems. A

troublesome process could occur when trying to insert local knowledge into science93. Local

and scientific knowledge are two different world that do not know each other and trying to

merge them tighter can encounter barriers form different spheres (e.g. institutional, political,

social and cultural)94 .

Besides, it is not that easy therefore to identify if and how local knowledge can be

relevant.95

Especially for some particulary extreme areas local people can contribute to the collection

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!89!Ibidem,!p.8!90!Africa! Adapt,! Climate! Change! Symposium! (2011)! Roles! of! local! and! indigenous! knowledge! in! addressing!climate!change!available!at!http://www.africaXadapt.net/media/resources/558/Panel%208.pdf!p.1!91!Couzin!J.!(2007),!Opening!Doors!to!Native!Knowledge,!Science!Vol!315!pp.!1518X1519!92!Ibid.!93!"it! is!not!universal,! it! is!not! systemati,! its!not! free!of!biases”! from!Couzin! J.! (2007),!Opening!Doors! to!Native!Knowledge,!Science!Vol!315!pp.!1518X1519!,!p.1519!94!Bragdon!S.!(2014),!Personal!Interview!95!Raymond!M.!C.!et!alt.!(2010)!Integrating!local!and!scientific!knowledge!for!environmental!management,!Journal!of!Environmental!Mangement!Vol.91!pp.!1766X1777!

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of in-depth, up-close information by giving scientists information otherwise difficult to access

independently96. Moreover, looking at what kind of local practices have been developed can

help to understand which are the difficulties that people have to cope with.

Where it is appropriate97, the idea is to integrate indigenous knowledge into scientific data.

The benefit would be for the scientific field but also of course for the locals98 who would

have the opportunity to have the availability of a more useful scientific research.

Also water resource management should not be extraneous of the potential of collecting

information from indigenous people99. "Understanding and identifying cultural practices may

be an important first step in collaborative resource management between different cultural

groups to prevent conflict and lengthy resolution in court"100 101

Local knowledge even if often associated with something old and not up dated is at the

same time continuously shaped by global dynamics. Climate change, scarce resources like

water and fertile land, put farmers in the situation where they have to find remedies to cope

with the new changing environmental condition. Also in this field then, “an innovation and

adaptation process must take place to adjust the system to arising challenges.”102 !

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!96!“I’m!looking!at!computer!screens!or!satellite!images,!but!I!don’t!have!the!time!to!wander!around!the!landscape!like!the!Sami!do,”!says!Terry!Callaghan,!who!runs!the!Abisko!Scientific!Research!Station!in!Sweden,!referring!to!the! native! population! that! herds! reindeer! in! three! Nordic! countries! and! Arctic! Russia.! From! Couzin! J.! (2007),!Opening!Doors!to!Native!Knowledge,!Science!Vol!315!pp!1519!97!“It!may!also!require!determining!the!type!of!knowledge!different!stakeholders!can!bring!to!the!integration!table!(e.g.!indigenous!or!scientific!perspectives),!as!well!as!the!type!of!content!they!have!to!offer!(e.g.!whether!they!have!particular!expertise,! such!as!ecological!or!economic! that! can!help! to! improve!understanding!of! the! interrelated!human! and! social! aspects! of! a! system! or! problem).”! From! Raymond!M.! C.! et! alt.! (2010)! Integrating! local! and!scientific!knowledge!for!environmental!management,!Journal!of!Environmental!Mangement!Vol.91!pp.!1766X1777!p.1769!98!"Understanding! and! identifying! cultural! practices! may! be! an! important! first! step! in! collaborative! resource!management!between!different!cultural!groups!to!prevent!conflict!and!lengthy!resolution!in!court."!from!Flangan!C.,! Laituri! M.! (2004)! Local! Cultural! Knowledge! and! Water! Resource! Management:! The! Wind! River! Indian!Reservation,!Environmental!Management!Vol.!33,!No.!2,!pp.!262X270!99!Chadwick,! M.,! J.! Soussan,! D.! Mallick,! and! S.! Alam,! 1998.! Understanding! indigenous! knowledge:! Its! role! and!potential!in!water!resources!management!in!Bangladesh.!Dhaka:!Bangladesh!Centre!for!Advanced!Studies.!100!Flangan! C.,! Laituri!M.! (2004)! Local! Cultural! Knowledge! and!Water! Resource!Management:! The!Wind!River!Indian!Reservation,!Environmental!Management!Vol.!33,!No.!2,!pp.!262X270!p.262!101!For!other!examples!see:!Drame!A.,!Kiema!A.!(2012)!How!to!fight!in!a!sustainable!way!against!adverse!effects!of!climate!change!in!West!Africa:!the!case!of!local!knowledge!practices,!ENDA,!Dakar,!Senegal!102 !FAO! (2004)! Understanding! the! Vulnerability! Contest!http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/y5631e/y5631e01.htm!

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GIVEN%FARMERS%THE%RIGHT%INFORMATION%%

Despite the fundamental relevance of local knowledge, in order to have a fully integration,

the sharing of expertise should also go on the other direction. It is in fact extremely

important to give local populations the possibility to have access to technical knowledge

regarding agriculture and water management. They should be put in the condition to adjust

the new knowledge with the needs of their specific contest.

In this scenario there are some dichotomies that can create conflicts such as the tension

between “modern and traditional approaches; […] large scale, capital intensive versus small

scale, labor intensive methods; [and] gains from water efficiency in one [area can lead] to

losses in another”103 The idea is to see this multicity of systems as an input and try to

integrate them and gain the best from all of them. A contact point needs to be found in

order to have virtuous outcomes.

It would be extremely useful for farmers to have access to information regarding

unexpected complications of climate change. Early warning systems of drought risks for

example would be a good tool to improve farmers’ reactions and planning to rainfalls, which

are always more variable104. Using scientific expertise to reach “Improvements in modelling

and data compilation and dissemination (could) provide timely guidance to farmers about

likely water situations at various time and geographical scales"105. It is important to create

an arena where stakeholder’s interaction can occur. The presence of informed stakeholders

is here very important. They need to have access to the knowledge regarding technology

development and innovation in order to exchange it among all the parts involved. !!

Now that it is accepted that the promise of the Green Revolution is not being maintained,

new research and knowledge regarding future potentials of agriculture should be shared

with farmers. In doing that the collaboration among farmers is fundamental. “Farmer-to-

farmer education is often more effective […] Famers are more comfortable accepting new

practices if they see that their peers have been successful.”106. It is really interesting the

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!103!SIWI!(2012),!Overarching!Conclusions,!World!Water!Week!in!Stockholm!2012:!Water!and!Food!Security.!SIWI,!Stockholm!p.19!104!Jägerskog,!A.,!Jønch!Clausen,!T.!(eds.),!(2012).!Feeding!a!Thirsty!World!–!Challenges!and!Opportunities!for!a!Water!and!Food!Secure!Future.!Report!Nr.!31.!SIWI,!Stockholm!105!Ibid.!p.10!106 Orts!E.,!Spigonardo!J.!(2013)!The!Nexus!of!Food,!Energy!and!Water,!Wharton!School,!Univeristy!of!Penssylvania,!USA!p.15!!!http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/specialXreport/theXnexusXofXfoodXenergyXandXwater/!

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project of an American software engineer, who thanks to his software he demonstrated that

“showing short, locally produced videos featuring local farmers is highly effective, especially

when followed up by facilitated group discussions”107. This is just an example of the

potential of using modern technology to build new knowledge. “This combination of

technology, science, education and focus on local farmers embodies the fundamentals of

an approach that has the potential to renew agriculture the world over and feed the planet’s

growing population”108 Alone, neither traditional methods nor the technologies of the green

revolution can answer to the problem. Given the current situation where food security mixed

with population growth and climate change is an enormous threat “new community-based,

ecology-oriented approaches that harness the power of science, local knowledge and new

technologies offer hope for a better future.”109

Participatory plant breeding (which is a good example of how two knowledge are putting

together110) is also fundamental in order to give voice to farmers and their preferences. “It

may be the only feasible route for crop breeding in remote regions, where a high level of

crop diversity is required within the same farm, or for minor crops that are neglected by

formal breeding programs”111

“Producing more staple crops alone does not increase food security. Diversification112 is

vital for farmers to be able to sell their produce at decent prices. It also offers the possibility !!

to use variable water resources more efficiently, contributing to stronger resilience to

climate change”113

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!107!According!to!The!New!York!Times!forty/one!percent!of!farmers!who!watched!one!of!the!videos!produced!have!adopted!at!least!one!new!practice!from!Ibidem!108!Ibid.,p.14!109!Ibid..!p.14!110!Susan!Bragdon,!2014,!Personal!Interview!111!Rosegrant!M.!W.,!Cline!A.!S.!(2003).!Global!Food!Security:!Challanges!and!Policies.!Science!Vol!302,!ppX!1917X1919!112!Herrero!calls!also!for!the!importance!of!a!synergy!between!cropping!and!livestock:!“Mixed!systems!enable!the!farmer!to!integrate!different!enterprises!on!the!farm;!in!such!systems,!livestock!provide!draft!power!to!cultivate!the!land!and!manure!to!fertilize!the!soil,!and!crop!residues!feed!livestock.!Moreover,! income!from!livestock!may!be! able! to! buffer! low! crop! yields! in! dry! years.! These! mixed! systems! may! be! used! intensively! close! to! urban!markets,! as! well! as! in! less! productive! areas!with! limited!market! access.! From!Herrero!M.! et! al.! (2010)! Smart!Investments!in!Sustainable!Food!Procution:!Revisiting!Mixed!CropXLivestock!Systems,!Science!327,!pp.!822X825!113!Jägerskog,!A.,! Jønch!Clausen,!T.! (eds.),! (2012).!Feeding!a!Thirsty!World!–!Challenges!and!Opportunities! for!a!Water!and!Food!Secure!Future.!Report!Nr.!31.!SIWI,!Stockholm!p.10!

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The benefits will go not only to the farmers but to the environment as well. In fact actions

taking for adaptation will also turn into an improvement of diversity. It is this the case of

some area affected by drought were farmers are planting different crops in order to diversify

the risk.

Of course in order to make sure that small farmers improved their production in a

sustainable way some attentions need to be paid. Investments in infrastructures, policies,

research and information are required. But in doing so it is important to involve who are the

target of the innovation in order to make sure that what is searched is the answer for a real

need. According to CGIAR even cellphones can be helpful in that way114. They are in fact

increasing in many developing countries and could represent an innovative way to instantly

connect farmers to agricultural services, information in order to be more competitive on the

markets.115.

At the same time it is also important to monitor the interventions in order to improve

accountability. While it is obvious that an analysis of the final impacts is useful, it is also

important to consider the meta-analysis and to evaluate outcomes of ongoing project in

order to learn simultaneously. It is interesting to notice that also in this case modern

technology can be useful to involve the participants and assure a monitoring of the project. .

“More effective methods of stakeholders’ engagement can be done using recent technology

in collecting and sharing data”116. As just said, even less expected means such as text

messaging and crowd-sourcing can have a role in the democratization of data collection

process.

As an example of the importance to recognize local dynamics, Science call for the creation

of “foresight intuitions” able to monitor key local dynamics regarding food and agriculture in

order to have an informed base for local and global policy debate and actions. “Developing

the local capacity to collect and distribute information is integral to any sustainable

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!114!See!also:!Kalas!L!P.,!Finlat!A.,!(2009)!Planting!the!knowledge!seed!Adapting!to!climate!change!using!ICTs!115!“With! the! help! of! several! groups,! including! the! Bill! and!Melinda! Gates! Foundation,! small! farmers! are! now!using! their! cell!phones! to!discover! the!best! time! to!plant! their! seeds,! to! share!new! farming!methods!with!each!other!and!to!learn!the!best!market!in!which!to!sell!their!produce!Orts!E.,!Spigonardo!J.!(2013)!The!Nexus!of!Food,!Energy!and!Water,!Wharton!School,!Univeristy!of!Penssylvania,!USA!p.14!116!SIWI!(2012),!Overarching!Conclusions,!World!Water!Week!in!Stockholm!2012:!Water!and!Food!Security.!SIWI,!Stockholm!p.13!

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development program”117

BOX%5

THE%EXPERIENCE%OF%HELVETAS118%An inspiring example is what Helvatas has been doing in the Bolivian altiplano (2,500-4,000

meters above sea level). In this area the situation is fragile, and because of climate change

and water scarcity the agricultural production is in crisis. Through and integration of local

practices and scientific expertise local communities are trying to adapt to climate change

and to increase food availability.

The area has particular unfavorable conditions. Farmers have to deal with difficult situations

such as unfavorable temperatures and water scarcity. Besides, unpredictable climate

change effects are making the contest even worst. Helvetas, who is leading the project,

tries to make sure that farmers can use their traditional methods to improve their situation

given the current conditions. Although recognizing the important of local knowledge the aim

of the project is also to integrate it with new scientific discovers. In doing so there is a group

of expert farmers who are identify as the “brokers”. They are well seen from the community

and can therefore have the role to divulgate their own knowledge and to demonstrate how

to use traditional knowledge on climate variability and biological indictor together with new

expertise. In this way they can suggest other farmers to which kind of crop sowing and to

choose the best period to do that. The capacity to find solutions to better deal with extreme

conditions can of course have benefits on food security and households’ income.

The aim of the project is to create an agricultural system that can be resilient to climate

variability. Local agro biodiversity is revitalized using a participatory methods where local

and technological forms of innovation cooperate. Thanks to a more variety food productions

the nutritional model of the population is improved.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!117!Daily!G.,!et!alt.!(1998)!Food!Production,!Population!Growth,!and!the!Environment,!Science!Vol.!281!no.!5381!pp.!1291X1292,!p.!118 All! the! information! comes! from! the! Helvatas! website! and! the! Interview! to! the! Project! Coordinator! of! the!Disaster!Risk!Reduction!Programme!!“Coping! with! climate! variability! and! change! thanks! to! local! knowledge! and! modern! science”!http://www.helvetas.org/projects___countries/projects/keystone_projects/projects_in_the_americas/climate_change!and!http://bolivia.helvetas.org/actividades/proyectos_en_bolivia/projecto_seguridad_alimentaria/!!Paz!O.!(2014)!Personal!Interview!

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Another step is then to improve the technical capacity of local institutions and organizations

in order to make them able to support the development of the sector.

One of the main approaches in order to make sure to have a successful action is to base

the process is an intercultural dialog. The respect of local tradition and knowledge is just the

base, and a research in term of where to find the complementarity between local and

scientists in order to develop good practices an innovation is needed. Fundamental is then

of course the involvement of different stakeholders in order to validate, and share the

different practices technologies.

The latter refers to systems of livestock management, crop production, the choice of

specific crops over others, and improvements in water and soil management.

Benefits can be found in the improvement of the diet of rural households not only in

quantitative terms but also qualitative. In fact not only more food is available but also the

nutritional values is better.

It is also interesting how the woman role is valued in this project. Their contribution to

agriculture is in fact worth of attention. Besides they have an import role in shaping

education and consumption pattern in children. Promoting the participation in decision

arenas and involvement of vulnerable groups (not only woman then, but also e.g. old

people) is important.

Some efforts need to be made in order to capture the good contact point between scientific

information and the knowledge already in the hands of farmers. The aim is to grasp the

most from both.

The project of Helvetas shows that farmers are willing to know more about resilient

practices. They agree on the need to integrate local knowledge with technical and scientific

notions. A good example regards the information about weather forecast where farmers has

shown interest in learning how to use meteorological instruments to then integrate it inside

their own baggage of expertise. This could be useful for example to use to take decisions

regarding the right time to saw and what to expect from the agricultural activities.

According to Paz119, skeptical approach are more widespread on the scientific and scholar

sides then among local farmers. The academia environment have in fact difficulties to

accept local knowledge produced outside common scientific paths and local knowledge is

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!119!Paz!O.!(2014)!Personal!Interview!

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accused of approximation. More visibility should be given to experiences which show the

fruitful potential of the collaboration. In doing that an important role can be played also by

policies.

The idea is to create a map where local information and climate information mix together in

order to five an efficient agricultural pacification.

Also in this project there is the witness of the importance of using modern technology to

spread knowledge, also in the case where part of that knowledge is part of the possession

of the target population. Not only oral speech has been used but also the production of

documents and videos. Videos where the protagonists was the farmers showing their

experience to other peers.

Trying to transfer this type of actions on other areas could be first done by showing the new

target audience the previous winning experience to make them agree on the potential of the

project.

Despite the great potential there are some variables that make the realizing of that projects

easier. First of all it is better doable in rural contests, or in general in those areas where

there is already a predisposition to safeguard local knowledge. Institutional structures can

have an important role in recognizing the potentials of the integration. Social structures is

also relevant, and participation of all the social groups is a prerequisite for a completely fully

employment of the benefits.

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CONCLUSION%%“There are large opportunities to be realized if the nexus is addressed coherently across all

scales, through multi-level governance with differentiated (but clearly defined)

responsibilities of institutions. At the local scale, trends for more participation and

decentralization co-develop with new guidelines and codes of conduct” should be

encourage.120

Producing more with less seems to be the key message. But despite being a nice slogan,

the step from acclaiming it to putting it in practice, with effective results, is not that easy121.

But only an increase of the production is not the answer. In fact, this has already been

happening but not enough positive results in terms of food security has been

corresponding. A policy intervention could help the ongoing trend involving also broader

fields such as “promoting of healthy and sustainable diets, [improving] early warning

systems to agricultural emergencies, [favoring] wiser an fairer trade regulation”122

Global food trade might appear as the perfect answer to balance, by importing and

exporting, the uneven distribution of food. Unfortunately thou it is notorious that in the reality

the market does not function in a perfect situation and there are therefore many obstacles

which impair the realization of a balancing of food availability through trade123.

Given that social and environmental values are not always well served by markets,

regulation and collective action promoted by social learning can help to guide investments

and innovation, so that negative externalities across sectors are minimized, benefits are

equitably shared and human rights are secured.124 !

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!120!Hoff,!H.!(2011).!Understanding!the!Nexus.!Background!Paper!for!the!Bonn!2011!Conference:!The!Water,!Energy!and!Food!Security!Nexus.!Stockholm!Environment!Institute,!Stockholm.!P.37X38!121!“Maximizing!energy!efficiency,!improving!irrigation!productivity!and!expanding!the!safe!reXuse!of!water!and!nutrient!resources!are!clearly!needed!to!achieve!this!goal.!Other!important!steps!include!attention!to!minimize!unintentional!movement!of!pollutants,!maintain!downstream!flows,!water!quality,!and!essential!habitats!for!pollinators!and!biodiversity,!such!as!forest!cover!and!grasslands;!improved!utilization!of!natural!infrastructure!for!water!storage;!preXemptive!planning!for!flood!prevention;!and!carbon!sequestration!for!stabilizing!the!climate!and!improving!soil!health.”!From!SIWI!(2012),!Overarching!Conclusions,!World!Water!Week!in!Stockholm!2012:!Water!and!Food!Security.!SIWI,!Stockholmp.6!122!SIWI!(2012),!Overarching!Conclusions,!World!Water!Week!in!Stockholm!2012:!Water!and!Food!Security.!SIWI,!Stockholm,!p.6!123!Jägerskog,!A.,!Jønch!Clausen,!T.!(eds.),!(2012).!Feeding!a!Thirsty!World!–!Challenges!and!Opportunities!for!a!Water!and!Food!Secure!Future.!Report!Nr.!31.!SIWI,!Stockholm!124!Hoff,!H.!(2011).!Understanding!the!Nexus.!Background!Paper!for!the!Bonn!2011!Conference:!The!Water,!Energy!and!Food!Security!Nexus.!Stockholm!Environment!Institute,!Stockholm.!Pp.37X38!

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What is extremely important should be also the attempt to improve transparency and

accountability in order to reduce corruption and land and water grabbing. Multi-stakeholder

collaboration is also encouraged125.

On the farm level, farmers must receive the necessary support to close the gap between

the potential yields their lands can bring and the actual harvest that they reap.

If we talk about crop irrigation there is a huge amount of water required to grown it. But not

only the production phase is consuming water also the processing phase. Moreover these

practices have to compete with others human activities in order to assure they have the

needed availability of water. Irrigation, power plant cooling, municipal drinking water, fossil

fuel production they all want to use the scarce water and need therefore to compete for it.

"When using blue water for agriculture […] more attention has to be paid to future river

basin realities, in particular the implications that continued economic development and

urban growth will have on the demand for local blue water sources."126

Moreover, the post 2015 agenda is been written now. It is therefore fundamental to catch

the attention of donors in order to prioritize the investments towards water issues. The

nexus approach is a promising tools to address SDGs and to promote an integrative view of

their realization. Also in the case of SDGs in fact, "achievement of targets under one goal

might affect targets under another goal".127

At the same time also natural and climate issues can put in jeopardy of water availability

(droughts are just an example regarding irrigation).

When thinking about food security is fundamental to take into account the effects that

climate can have on the food system and to consider approaches on adaptation in order to

achieve a "climate-smart food system that is more resilient to climate change influences on

food security"128.

Nowadays, when doing a geopolitical analysis climate change cannot be denied in the

evaluation. Global warming and all the consequences related to it are expecting to influence

all the spheres of the society, institutions and political structures included. Of course the

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!125!SIWI!(2012),!Overarching!Conclusions,!World!Water!Week!in!Stockholm!2012:!Water!and!Food!Security.!SIWI,!Stockholm!p.13!126!Ibidem,!p.16!127!Weitz!N.!(2014)!CrossXsectoral!integration!in!the!Sustainable!Development!Goals:!a!nexus!approach,!Stockholm!Environmental!Institute,!Stockholm!Sweden!128!Wheeler!T.,!von!Braun!J.!(2013),!Climate!Change!Impacts!on!Global!Food!Security,!Science!341,!508X513!

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consequences are really different around the world but in every territory in order to explain

power conflicts climate change and its effects needs to be taken into account. !

The climate change process is occurring globally, while its effects are quite specific and

particularly localized.

In some areas of the African continent the main risk is the desertification while close to the

Nile Delta there is the risk of sea water infiltration. At the same time some islands risk to

face problems because of the sea level rise. Besides, there are some extreme phenomena

such as intense rains and their effects, effects that are visible also in western countries.

All these phenomena has the potential to increment the risk of climate motivated conflicts.

There is a hunting for natural resources and water is one example. The control of aquifers

in some dedicated areas can be a vector of war that should not be underestimated.

In order to reduce the calamity of climate change both social and hard science should find a

common ground where acting together. But in this contest multidisciplinary regards also the

involvement of the knowledge of local people. In order to orient the focus from national to

the river basin level it is important to gain the participation of both sides and to have the

possibility to use all type of knowledge and expertise.

The creation of a collaboration between science and policy does not of course happen by

itself. "Integrating different types of knowledge is inherently complex" and of course there is

"no single optimum approach"129

It is not easy to find a balanced relation but the interconnection should be welcomed

because they are able to add an important value to water and food management. It is

important to keep scientists and policy makers in contact in order to allow them to have a

fruitful exchange of insights and experiences.

It is worth to notice that the expression used is integration. The idea is to do not take

extreme positions where only local knowledge is seen as the solution. It is in fact

recognized the importance of a fair access to science as well130. With climate change

occurring, nothing can be underestimated and a synthesis of all the approaches is

encouraged. “Findings from scientific studies are essential for understanding climate threats

and changing climate patterns, but it is also important to study and document how the

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!129 Raymond!M.!C.!et!alt.!(2010)!Integrating!local!and!scientific!knowledge!for!environmental!management,!Journal!of!Environmental!Mangement!Vol.91!pp.!1766X1777!!130!Wooley!J.!2014,!Personal!Interview!

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threats are perceived and handled by local people. Documentation of local knowledge and

perception, indigenous technology and local responses may serve as very important inputs

in assessing and prioritizing adaptation areas.”131!

It should be important to mix the knowledge produced in academic area to with the

expertise held by non/academics actors such as land managers and the public.

Participatory research methods are also encouraged in order to make the production of

knowledge more inclusive. Furthermore water managers "may have implicit or deeper tacit

knowledge about the flooding and drying cycles of a wetland but may either have not yet

articulated this knowledge or may have found it difficult to explicitly explain why they know

what they know"132

The idea that needs to be understood is that local people should be listened not just

because it is correct that they participate, it is not a matter of right. The importance comes

from the enormous potential that their involvement could have133. It is therefore time to let

the barriers between different knowledge fall. !

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!131!Dhal!S.,!(2013)!Role!of!Indegenous!Knowledge!in!Climate!Change!Adaptation,!http://www.academia.edu/3272572/Indigenous_Knowledge_in_Climate_Change_Adaptation!132!Raymond!M.!C.!et!alt.!(2010)!Integrating!local!and!scientific!knowledge!for!environmental!management,!Journal!of!Environmental!Mangement!Vol.91!pp.!1766X1777!p.17667!133!Ibidem!

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REFERENCES%%

Africa Adapt, Climate Change Symposium (2011) Roles of local and indigenous

knowledge in addressing climate change available at http://www.africa-

adapt.net/media/resources/558/Panel%208.pdf

Bakker K. (2012). Water Security: Research Challenges and Opportunities, Vol. 337,

Science

Bloom J.(2011)Americans Waste Enough Food to Fill a 90,000-seat Football Stadium

Every Day-What Can We Do About It? Available at

http://www.alternet.org/story/152429/americans_waste_enough_food_to_fill_a_90%2C0

00-seat_football_stadium_every_day_--_what_can_we_do_about_it

Bregdon, S. (July 28, 2014) Representative for Food and Sustainability at the Quaker

United Nations Office in Geneva, Personal Interview

Brown, L. R. (2003), Emerging Water Shortages: A Food Bubble Economy, Plan B:

Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble, Earth Policy Institute at

http://www.earth-policy.org/books/pb/pbch2_ss6

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