event 01 Jun 2013

Moving forward with the nexus approach

By Bernhard Zymla. The nexus approach aims to improve the use of water, energy and food resources by coordinating sectoral strategies and improving governance processes. Since the Bonn conference, hosted by the German government in 2011, GIZ on behalf of the BMZ has supported several initiatives to integrate a nexus perspective in its water, energy and agriculture programs. Two new initiatives which work at the intersection of energy, water and agriculture are profiled below.

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GIZ supports BMZ in initiating and coordinating a so-called “High Impact Opportunity” (HIO) on nexus in the framework of the UN Sustainable Energy for All initiative. Partners in this initiative are FAO (co-lead), UNEP, USAID, the World Bank and REEEP. The HIO shall promote the nexus approach at the policy and implementation level. It will work to acknowledge the interdependencies between water, energy and food in sectoral policies and strategies. It further aims to coordinate the development of new methodologies and innovative approaches that support the implementation of concrete nexus projects. Currently, BMZ, FAO and GIZ are preparing the timeline for the initiative until end-2014. GIZ has further been mandated by BMZ to implement a new program called “Powering Agriculture –Sustainable energy for food production”. This intervention aims to improve the sustainability of energy-use for agricultural production and is the German contribution to the larger joint-initiative of USAID, SIDA, Duke Energy and the BMZ called “Powering Agriculture – An Energy Grand Challenge” (PAEGC) . The overall PAEGC-Initiative works to accelerate the development and deployment of clean energy solutions for increasing agriculture productivity and/or value in developing or advanced developing countries. The GIZ will provide technical and financial support to selected activities of PAEGC with potential for scaling-up and will work to strengthen the initiative’s impact- orientation and its monitoring and evaluation framework. The GIZ will also particularly focus on improving knowledge on energy costs and efficiency in agricultural value chains, building advisory capacities, supporting cooperation with the private sector and research institutes in emerging markets, and on the development and dissemination of marketable business solutions for clean- energy solutions in agriculture. Contact: Bernhard Zymla,Head of GIZ energy energy@giz.de Source: GIZ Energy newsletter

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