By Oliver Johnson - SEI Africa Centre

1. The Food-Energy-Environment Nexus:
Supporting policies for sustainable
growth in Ethiopia
Oliver Johnson
SEI Africa Centre
oliver.johnson@sei-international.org

2. The SEI WEF nexus initiative
• Governing the nexus
• Understanding the nexus
• Managing and innovating
in the nexus
Aim: to apply a nexus toolkit to address inter-connected water, energy and food
development challenges at different levels. The initiative will do this to enable those who
govern and manage these systems to work together to ensure basic access, efficiency and
sustainability.
ENERGY
(LEAP)
WATER
(WEAP)
FOOD
(WEAP)
ENVIRON-
MENTAL
SYSTEM
pumping
hydropower
cooling
irrigation
waste, pollution
mechanisation
bioenergy
Management
Pressures
Users/stakeholders
Governance

3. The Water, Food, Energy and Environment
Nexus: a case study in Lake Tana, Ethiopia
• Sustainable agricultural transformation and energy
transitioning
• Conflicting interests and aspirations
• Policy impacts: CRGE, GTP
Aim: Assess impacts of different development pathways on
various stakeholder groups, after accounting for interactions
between sectors

5. Methods
WEAP-LEAP: a
nexus tool-kit
Joint learning:
stakeholder
participation
Scenarios:
narratives about
the future
Food-Energy-Environment Nexus
LAND
(GIS)
WATER
(WEAP)
ENVIRONMENT
(WEAP, LEAP, GIS)
FOOD / BIOMASS
(WEAP)
ENERGY
(LEAP)
IRRIGATION, FERTILISATION, MECHNISATION
BIOENERGY

6. SCENARIOS
Joint learning – developing
scenario narratives
WEAP
-LEAP
Individual
knowledgeDialogue
Story and simulation approach

7. Scenarios: three stories about the future
• Business as usual (BAU): slow development, low adoption of
new technology
• National plans (Nat Plans): full adoption of technologies
according to national policies
• Nexus (Nexus): resolving outstanding dilemmas, new policy
and innovation needs
Population increase: same in all scenarios, no climate
change accounted for

8. Results

9. WATER

10. Total avg production 2010-2030
(GWh)
BAU 1100
Nat Plans 1100
Nexus 600
ENERGY

11. Energy demand
LAND

12. Total avg food production 2010-2030
(tonne)
BAU 700
Nat Plans 1200
Nexus 1700
LAND

13. Points for discussion / conclusion
• Links beween sectors need to be accounted for
• Water and biomass are limited resources and their
management needs to be agreed upon across sectors
• How can these nexus issues be managed practically
between institutions?
• What is the need for new policies, innovations and
implementation options?