Tropentag 2023, September 20 - 22, Berlin, Germany "Competing pathways for equitable food systems transformation: trade-offs and synergies."

Coproducing the water-energy-food-biodiversity nexus to operationalise agri-food systems sustainability transitions

¹National University of Colombia, Humboldt Research Institute: Trajects, Colombia
²World Bank Group, Environmental Psychology Node of Ascofapsi, Colombia
³Basque Center for Climate Change, Adaptation Lab, Spain

Abstract

Rising resource scarcity and environmental conflicts over water, energy, and food, coupled with population growth and climate change, pose a severe threat to biodiversity conservation and culture. The Water-Energy-Food nexus and coproduction are prominent solutions to elucidate these threats. On the one hand, this contribution aims to fill the gaps identified in the nexus thinking by integrating the Water-Energy-Food and Biodiversity elements into a single framework. On the other hand, we attempt to summarise the nexus research focused on social-ecological transitions in agricultural systems and biodiversity management within the Water-Energy-Food nexus. Through a systematic review and a bibliometric analysis applying the VOS visualisation tool and ToS methods, we aimed to elucidate this information from 529 documents in the Scopus database. We identified through the ToS method 81 relevant information in the documents´ sample (529) categorised into roots (10), trunks (9), and leaves (62). Our research situates types, focus, and highlights regarding biodiversity and prevalent thematic research areas such as environmental flows, food nexus, sustainability, transitions, and governance. Our results suggest that future research should focus on the nexus of Water-Energy-Food-Biodiversity and could pose a interdisciplinary approach with some implications not only in the use of resources but also in the scenarios, scales, indicators, and long-term interactions, and situates demands of biodiversity conservation which can be supplied or balanced by agri-food systems at landscape levels. Strengthening different knowledge networks through a coproducing roadmap would contribute to public policy generation in scenarios of sustainability transitions in agri-food systems. This framework could increase stakeholder interest in conservation, and sustainability management, to reverse biodiversity losses in ecosystems.

Credits: PAFD program (ZEF- IDEA agreement of the National University of Colombia) and to the funders (DAAD and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development). (DAAD and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development).

Keywords: Biodiversity conservation, environmental flows, governance, sustainability transitions, water-energy-food nexus

Contact Address: Diana Cristina Moreno Vargas, National University of Colombia, Humboldt Research Institute: Trajects, Cra 16 C N 160 - 39, 111321 Bogotá d.c, Colombia, e-mail: dcmorenovunal.edu.co