Nexus Ecosystems: Where Water, Food, and Energy meet on the Path to Sustainability

A projected global population of 9 billion people by 2050. In my mind, a rather alarming statistic, like a storm looming in the horizon. Not directly affecting all of us yet, but you know that its impact will hit… hard. An even more concerning question is how are we going to sustain a population of 9 billion and what does it mean to sustain? As I was looking through some previously published Deloitte agriculture sector eminence, an interesting concept captured my attention; sustainability can be portrayed as three primary areas: Water, Food and Energy. Each area interdependent on the others, forming what is called the food-water-energy nexus.

While perusing some the Deloitte archives I came across an article which proposed the idea that addressing water, energy, and food as an interconnected system — ‘nexus ecosystems’ — can help to derail us from our destiny of living on an unsustainable planet. It was suggested that the nexus may also provide opportunities to foster business growth, economic development, and social well-being on a sustainable and resilient path. Economic development, there’s another interesting thought. How will the co-dependent nature of food-water and energy impact the global economy and how is the USDA equipped (or not) to address it?

To put economic impact into perspective, I came across two examples portraying the implications the nexus currently (yes, currently!) has on national and state-level economies. The first example given was Brazil, which suffered droughts in recent years resulting in a “ripple effect” on food and power production. The paper quotes the Wall Street Journal and economists who both expressed their concerns the effect the drought would have on the price of fruits and vegetables and on the production of certain crops. To tie in the third area of the nexus, energy, economists were also concerned that the drought would start to drive up electricity prices, as power companies could be forced to use more expensive thermoelectric power plants to compensate for the dwindling reservoirs behind hydroelectric power plants.

Another example I found hit closer to home, the State of California. The reading highlighted California’s current economic impact of the water-energy-food nexus and specifically credits the water drought issue to climate change and increased competition for water. According to the report, in 2015 the state economy lost about $3 billion in 2015. A professor from the University of California, Davis is referenced in saying that the state’s agriculture sector lost approximately 17,000 jobs in 2014 due to the water scarcity. This example was among many that the article gave of how water scarcity directly impacted the local economy.

From these more tangible examples, it became clear that the USDA may be in a position where it can take action in creating programs which focuses on the water-energy-food nexus as a whole rather than on the individual areas. Immediately, the USDA’s Office of the Chief Economist (OCE) and the Council on Sustainable Development came to mind. Though there are many groups within the USDA that have programs and research geared toward sustainable agriculture, it’s the OCE that may be in the best position to take action in creating programs focused on innovation in sustainable agriculture and the water-energy-food nexus. The OCE sponsors the Council for Sustainable Development and its chair committee supports programs that specifically address the issue on sustainability which are coordinated by the Director of Sustainable Development, Elise H. Golan. The director leads and coordinates cross-mission area work in sustainable development and represents the [UDSA] in both domestic and international arenas on issues relating to sustainable development. My question is, how can the Nexus be added to the mix? Is this a topic that the Council has already addressed?

Needless to say, Deloitte’s existing thought ware on the Nexus has left AgTrends with a few very compelling thoughts around sustainable agriculture and the nexus:

- Effects of the water-energy-food nexus can weigh heavily on local and global economies.

- The impact to economies has warranted action by organizations to partner together in creating solutions which addresses the nexus.

- It is technological innovation and the establishment of nexus ecosystems that opens an opportunity for the USDA Council on Sustainable Development to take action towards addressing the nexus and fighting the destiny of an unsustainable planet.

So now we invite you all, the stakeholders, the consumers of natural resources and the center of the nexus with a loaded question; what’s next for government and industry to keep the storm at bay?

Junko Kaji, Lisa Newman-Wise, and Grace Summers were contributors to this piece.