The Food-Energy-Environment Nexus:Supporting policies for sustainable

growth in Ethiopia

Oliver JohnsonSEI Africa Centre

oliver.johnson@sei-international.org

The SEI WEF nexus initiative

• Governing the nexus

• Understanding the nexus

• Managing and innovating in the nexus

Aim: to apply a nexus toolkit to address inter-connected water, energy and food development challenges at different levels. The initiative will do this to enable those who govern and manage these systems to work together to ensure basic access, efficiency and sustainability.

The Water, Food, Energy and Environment Nexus: a case study in Lake Tana, Ethiopia

• Sustainable agricultural transformation and energy transitioning

• Conflicting interests and aspirations

• Policy impacts: CRGE, GTP

Aim: Assess impacts of different development pathways on various stakeholder groups, after accounting for interactions between sectors

Methods

WEAP-LEAP: a nexus tool-kit

Joint learning:

stakeholder participation

Scenarios: narratives about the future

Food-Energy-Environment Nexus

LAND(GIS)

WATER(WEAP)

ENVIRONMENT(WEAP, LEAP, GIS)

FOOD / BIOMASS(WEAP)

ENERGY(LEAP) IRRIGATION, FERTILISATION, MECHNISATION

BIOENERGY

SCENARIOS

Joint learning – developing scenario narratives

WEAP-LEAP

Individual knowledgeDialogue

Story and simulation approach

Scenarios: three stories about the future

• Business as usual (BAU): slow development, low adoption of new technology

• National plans (Nat Plans): full adoption of technologies according to national policies

• Nexus (Nexus): resolving outstanding dilemmas, new policy and innovation needs

Population increase: same in all scenarios, no climate change accounted for

Results

WATER

Total avg production 2010-2030(GWh)

BAU 1100Nat Plans 1100Nexus 600

ENERGY

Energy demand

LAND

Total avg food production 2010-2030(tonne)

BAU 700Nat Plans 1200Nexus 1700

LAND

Points for discussion / conclusion

• Links beween sectors need to be accounted for

• Water and biomass are limited resources and their management needs to be agreed upon across sectors

• How can these nexus issues be managed practically between institutions?

• What is the need for new policies, innovations and implementation options?