The Food Energy Water Nexus

Today I watched this interesting video by WWF South Africa on Youtube which highlights the key links between water, food and energy. It neatly summarises the issues that South Africa are undergoing (nicely linking to my previous blog post on South Africa). The video made me think about the role energy plays in the relationship between food and water. This is because the role of energy is often neglected. In other words, the focus with regards to water and food is on how to find and obtain more water, not how are we going to find the energy to obtain that water. The clip states that South Africa is currently in an energy crisis and therefore this is a key issue in the country.

The video also raised a point that struck me as unusual. The statement was ‘We need to produce more food with less water.’ To me this is very strange as the obvious ways to increase food production is through increased irrigation and therefore more water consumption. Researching this further, an article titled 'How to grow more food with less water' emphasises the importance of technology to achieve this. Sensors, satellites and software can be used to assess water demand for crops on a farm. New technology is even being developed right now:

“Susan O’Shaughnessy, a research agricultural engineer at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Bushland, Texas, is developing new sensors for center-pivot irrigation devices to help farmers ensure that precious groundwater isn’t wasted. The sensors measure leaf-canopy temperature to gauge water demand, which helps avoid over-irrigating.” 

This advancement of irrigation by the use of technology is particularly important as around 40% of the world’s food grows on irrigated land. Improved use of water for irrigation through the implementation of technologies could reduce water demands of farms by up to 50%. This includes the use of drip systems that supply water slowly onto the crops, directly at the surface so that almost no water is lost through evaporation. It is clear that there are huge possibilities to make improvements to the irrigation of croplands.

Short videos like this one can help you to view an issue from a different angle and that is always important when studying a complex problem that requires new and innovative solutions.