30 août 2012
00:00
Seminar at the World Water Week Stockholm // Managing the Vulnerable Water-Food Nexus in the Andes and Himalayas
This seminar will analyse how the water-food nexus is being affected by climate change in two of the more important mountain regions of the world: the Andes and the Himalayas. The seminar will review concepts, discuss relevant cases that address different dimensions of the water-food nexus and innovative approaches for dealing with depleting resources, as well as provide guidance to mitigate the impact of the vulnerable water-food nexus in developing regions.
The water-food nexus is being affected by climate change with the potential to impact food security at country-regional-global levels. In places such as the Andes and Himalayas where fragile ecosystems, low-capacity institutions, and weak economic linkages persist, the impact of a vulnerable water-food nexus is quickly evident.
As the sources of the world's major rivers, mountain areas play a vital role in the water cycle, for multiple uses of water (food production, economic activity, transportation, domestic use), for biodiversity, and for hydroelectric power. Mountain ecosystems have been recognized as providing some of the first indications of the impacts of climate change and its potential to affect the lives of billions of people downstream, in slopes, valleys, and plains-both directly and indirectly.