Publication // Applying the Water-Energy-Food Nexus to the Charcoal Value Chain

Abstract

Globally, natural resources are increasingly under pressure, especially due to population growth, economic growth and transformation as well as climate change. As a result, the water, energy, and food (WEF) nexus approach has emerged to understand interdependencies and commonly manage resources within a multi-scale and multi-level framework. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the high and growing consumption of traditional biomass for cooking purposes - notably fuelwood and charcoal—is both a key source of energy and contributor for food security as well as a pressure on natural resources. Improving the bioenergy value chains is essential for limiting environmental degradation and for securing the livelihoods of millions of people. Although the WEF nexus approach entails large potential to address the complex problems arising along the bioenergy value chains, these are currently not considered. Based on the WEF nexus approach, we analyze the different steps within the charcoal value chain in Sub-Saharan Africa and highlight the respective interdependencies and the potential for improving overall socio-economic and environmental sustainability. We emphasize the water, energy and food related implications of vicious and virtuous production cycles, separated by value chain segments. We discuss the potential and major challenges for implementing more sustainable value chains. Furthermore, we underline the necessity of applying WEF nexus approaches to these value chains in order to optimize environmental and social outcomes.

Keywords

WEF, nexus, value chain, traditional biomass, sustainability, Sub-Saharan Africa, wood energy

Published

December 2017

By

Frontiers in Environmental Science 5:84.

Citation

Hoffmann HK, Sander K, Brüntrup M and Sieber S (2017) Applying the Water-Energy-Food Nexus to the Charcoal Value Chain. Front. Environ. Sci. 5:84. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2017.00084

Download

Applying the Water-Energy-Food Nexus to the Charcoal Value Chain

Related Resources

• Publication // Prominent Influence of Socioeconomic and Governance Factors on the Food‐Energy‐Water Nexus in sub‐Saharan Africa
• Incorporating Ecohydrological Processes Into an Analysis of Charcoal-Livestock Production Systems in the Tropics // An Alternative Interpretation of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus
• Nexusing Charcoal in South Mozambique // A Proposal To Integrate the Nexus Charcoal-Food-Water Analysis With a Participatory Analytical and Systemic Tool