Global WEF Nexus Community Podcast
The Global WEF Nexus Community's Podcast, is your go-to resource to navigate the intricate dynamics of water, energy, and food systems across the globe. Join us on a journey to unravel the complexities of these interconnected pillars that sustain life and society as we know it.
Through insightful discussions with experts, policymakers, and thought leaders, we aim to uncover actionable insights and foster meaningful dialogue around the challenges and opportunities at the intersection of water, energy, and food.
Whether you're a seasoned professional, an avid enthusiast, or simply curious about the nexus between these critical domains, this podcast is for you.
Global WEF Nexus Community Podcast
Ep 5: Exploring the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem-Health Nexus with Komlavi Akpoti
Join us as we delve into the transformative potential of the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem-Health (WEFEH) nexus approach in achieving sustainable development in Africa. Our guest, Komlavi Akpoti, co-author of the policy brief "Realizing Africa's Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem-Health Nexus: A Resilient Future for Nature and People," shares insights on the nexus's role in addressing climate change, resource security, and livelihood improvement.
We discuss practical applications, strategic actions, and key recommendations for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners to realize the WEFEH nexus's potential in Africa.
Welcome to another insightful episode of the Web Nexus podcast. Insightful episode of the WEF Nexus podcast. I'm your host, rewa, today, and today I have with me here Komlavi to talk more about a very interesting topic, which is on a policy brief that has been released very recently, that is, realizing Africa's water, energy, food, ecosystem, health nexus a resilient future for nature and people. This document is a critical piece that highlights the importance of integrating these sectors to achieve sustainable development in Africa. We're thrilled to have you here with us, komlavi, and to share with us your insights and recommendations on this policy brief. So, to keep it, you know, for the audience to know, if we talk about the water, energy, food, ecosystem, health nexus, let's keep it short and say WFA. Maybe, to keep it short, and today with Komlavi, we'll be discussing the challenges, opportunities and practical applications of this WFA approach. So, without further ado, I'd like to welcome with me Komlavi. Hello, komlavi.
Speaker 2:Hello Rima.
Speaker 1:Hi, it's great to have you here with us. So if we want to start from the very beginning of this policy brief, you co-authored this policy brief that talks about realizing Africa's water, energy, food, ecosystem, health. Nexus is a resilient future for nature and people which it introduces, the WEPI nexus. So for the people here now listening to us and you're unfamiliar of this nexus approach, can you tell us more broadly about this nexus approach?
Speaker 2:Thank you, rewa, and I'm very happy to join this interview. It's an honor for me. So before I jump into that question, let me briefly present myself. My name is Komlavi. I'm an environmental scientist in climate, spatial hydrology and water resources. I currently work at UMI, international Water Management Institute as a postdoc looking at water accounting, evaluating climate model for impact stages and impact on climate change on water, land and food system in general. So, yes, I think so. Recently, as you mentioned, we work together with colleagues here at Yumi, but also at Agnes, to develop a brief policy about Africa, a policy brief about Africa's water-energy-food-energy health nexus, and this, in short, WER welfare is an integrated approach that recognize the interdependencies among water, energy, food, ecosystem and health. So it highlights the necessity of managing these resources or sectors together instead of silos kind of management. So this approach is based on the fact that we shouldn't work in isolation, but rather we should look at all these aspects as an integrated system. Yes, thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Thank you, and this is absolutely true when we think about this nexus, of how we can relate these, connect these sectors together and, as we think about it, the SDG goals, although we have different goals, but they are also intertwined in one way or another. We have, let's say, the goal SCG 14 and 17. How does this next approach contribute to achieving these SDG goals?
Speaker 2:Thank you very much. So the welfare nexus, as we highlighted in the policy brief, cover at least 14 of the 17 sustainable development goals, and I'll mention a few of them. So, for example, zero Hunger, which is the Sustainable Development Goal 2. So the welfare nexus approach has, for example, food security plus sustainable agricultural processes, efficient water use and improved resilience through climate change impact on food and food production Production, for example. Also, we could look at this integrated approach through the lens of SDG3, good health and well-being, and this in the sense that it ensure access to clean water, sanitation, sustainable energies, which also help mitigate health risks, in water-borne diseases, for example, and pollution. So we could also look at SDGs 6, clean water and sanitation, and this approach, look at this SDG through a lens of integrated water resource management to ensure that sustainable water practices, for example, improve water quality, address water scarcity, for example, improve water quality, address water scarcity, for example which all contribute directly to clean water and sanitation for all.
Speaker 2:And maybe I could also mention another important SDG, which is climate action SDG 13. Sdg which climate action, sdg 13,. And this by enhancing, for example, climate impact and promoting low carbon development. And the list goes on and on and on. So really, the welfare nexus approach embraces all these sectors and that is why we believe that, you know, the approach is integral to the sustainable development goals. This is really used so that we avoid silos kind of policy, but integrated approach, looking at the fact that one sector really affects the other sector, yes, yeah, and, as you mentioned, from a global or the sustainable development, the sustainable development goals as a whole.
Speaker 1:Looking at it from different also, the life below land, or that was one of the sustainable goals, the food security and overall and also going to the 17,. One of the sustainability goals and the food security and overall, and also going to the 17, which is the partnership for this whole. So I believe this, the weaponry nexus is also focusing on this. Partnerships, uh for for the goals. Now we're talking about it on a um, on a global scale, and now, if you need to go uh to the policy brief in specific, when we're talking about Africa's future, can you discuss here the potential outcomes of embracing this wealthy nexus approach to Africa's future? And if we need to talk about regarding the resource security, whether it was from food security or the livelihood, empowerment and the face of this climate crisis that we are witnessing.
Speaker 2:Yes, Thank you.
Speaker 2:This is very important, especially in the context of Africa right.
Speaker 2:So the welfare nexus approach, we believe, can really profoundly impact Africa's future, for example, by enhancing resource security and improving livelihoods, especially in the context of the climate crisis.
Speaker 2:We know that in Africa, although Africa is the least contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, we are the most impacted. So by integrating the management of water, energy, food, ecosystem and health, we believe that the approach can really ensure that resources are used more efficiently and sustainably, thereby securing access to these essential resources even as the climate impact intensifies. So it can also support the development of resilient food system and this is very, very important for Africa, especially in the dry water limited regions like, for example, Sahel and the Horn of Africa, where drought is currently prone. So it can also promote renewable energies adoption and safeguard vital ecosystem. Also can also contribute to stabilizing income and enhancing food security, especially for smallholder farmers, we believe. So the welfare nexus fosters innovation and leverage both modern technology and also indigenous knowledge to create adaptation, or robust adaptation to climate change, I would say, and also by promoting, you know, healthier ecosystem, kind of. So this is how we see welfare nexus approach to strongly support the sustainable development of Africa's future.
Speaker 1:That sounds promising when I think about it strategically and how we need to be going through our goals. Now, if we want to think about strategic actions, what are these actions that are necessary to advance with the Web3 Nexus for a resilient, sustainable future for Africa? About it, you know, from what we would like to put on papers and what we would like to put on ground, the real actions that we need to take to move forward with this advancement.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you. So this is really another important question the strategic actions. So, for the sustainability and the development of Africa, it's really crucial to integrate and align policies across sectors. As I mentioned earlier, um is it is time now to look at things holistically instead of one direction. So integrate sectors in terms of policies is very, very important. And also, we think that it's very important to enhance data collection, because you can't make a decision without the right data, the right tools. So it's very important to enhance data collection and also improve the decision support tools.
Speaker 2:We think that collaboration among governments, private sectors, civil society and international organizations is very, very important, because these are very complex systems and any action in one sector can impact the other. So we need to integrate or to approach all the actors and stakeholders that are part of the system and stakeholders that are part of the system. It's also important to mention that finance is very important to achieve all these goals. So innovation financing linking public and private partnership should be considered.
Speaker 2:Also in terms of strengthening government's structures to build local capacity right, so you cannot do welfare at only top down level, but also bottom up right to the local people to really manage their water sustainably, manage their land for food security sustainably, and so on and so forth. And all this happened at a local level, at a farm level or at a community level. So community engagement is essential, ensuring that local knowledge, you know, goes out to shape the policy decisions or policymaking. We think that it's not just about collecting data and all that. We need to monitor all the progress. So monitoring and evaluation framework should be developed to adapt to this very local context so that we can measure progress and also learn from the failures. So these are things, strategic actions to consider when we are talking about welfare nexus in Africa.
Speaker 1:And I want to bring in the point that here you mentioned about monitoring and, you know, looking at future steps of how to assess its outcomes. There's also, and we have mentioned there are interventions to operationalize the Wafi nexus in Southern Africa. Can you share a specific example to this and to the ones listening to us? How can we define or personalize Wife in Access and if you can give us a specific case study, with its outcome, of how this was achieved?
Speaker 2:Yes, so that is right. There was an important case study in South Africa, as we mentioned in the brief which is published in 2021 by Nedu and his colleagues, and their work is really to develop a kind of tools and framework based on a specific case that they develop, framework based on a specific case that they develop. So through this paper, they develop what they call theory of change in the space of welfare and nexus. So they have projects aimed to address simultaneously challenges across sectors. So they look at hunger, zero hunger in terms of sustainable development, goal two. They look at clean water and sanitation. They look at affordable and clean energy. They look also at climate action and also life below water and, of course, life on land.
Speaker 2:So key interventions through this project included the development of decision support tools for resources management, scenario planning for integrated adaptation and the promotion of climate smart agriculture practices and the promotion of climate-smart agricultural practices.
Speaker 2:So at the end, their outcome included improved livelihoods, enhanced environmental sustainability, increased relevance of communities to climate change. So through this integrated approach of their projects, it was highlighted that they facilitated also job creation, they have restored degraded lands and also they have contributed to harmonizing some of the policies that are not really in sync to the local sector and ultimately leading to synergetic benefit that supports socioeconomic and security and sustainable development in South Africa. So it's really a holistic approach that they have developed through their projects and which was really summarized in the paper, looking at the various sectors, how much job they have created and the impact they have on the ground and how they have influenced policy. Of course, how they have also developed a tool, a framework to guide the whole process, a kind of a standardized framework if this approach will be, you know, adopted in other parts of Africa. So I think this is a really nice case study, yeah.
Speaker 1:It really looks like a very interesting case study. When you're talking about, you know, the theory of change and then looking further into different data from the food security and others, it looks like there's a lot of interconnectedness that we need to be delving into. And when we think about all of these, we think about also the data management. All of these information is coming from a data-driven management and of course, it has a very big role in the web nexus and of course, there's a lot of gaps there in this data. How do you address these gaps in the data when developing this policy brief?
Speaker 2:That's right. One of the limitations in the welfare approach is basically the critiques that people address to the welfare approach is the lack of data, or lack of case data collected concretely through case studies and especially on the ecosystem and health part of the integrated approach. So, yeah, the approach is data driven and it's very crucial that the welfare approach collect data to various case studies to establish a kind of a baseline right and for future monitorings of improvement in the various sectors. So we believe that once you have a conscience of using this welfare integrated approach, you want to collect data on the various components of the approach so that you see clearly the impact and also how one sector impacts the others. So welfare nexus approach is very important to enable informed decision making, to optimize the use of interconnected resources water, energy, food, of course, and ecosystem and health. So this help identify, for example, synergies and trade-offs it's very important and implement effective strategies for sustainable development.
Speaker 2:To address this gap, it is essential to invest in comprehensive data collection. There's no shortcut to this. You really have to collect some information. We also need to standardize data generation and promote kind of regional collaboration for data sharing. It's important to promote data sharing among sectors, among ministries and also at the regional level, right? So if you take a transboundary basin, for example, and information from the other country can help prepare action for the downstream country, for example. So developing robust decision support tools and enhancing analytical capacities for regional organizations, basin managers and agricultural practitioners's very, very important and it will help us bridge the gap. So ensure that we have accurate, timely information that is available for integrated resources management.
Speaker 1:Yes, this is like a call for action here you're putting in.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, connecting them and actually, you know, not just having it as a theoretical way but also as a knowledge sharing kind of collaboration to integrate the change that we're asking for. And you mentioned agricultural practices, the ecosystem services I'm sure Africa has diverse landscapes for these resources as well. How can we harness these resources to maximize the benefits for the Wafi nexus in Africa, particularly?
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you, rewa. Yeah, harnessing the resources is important as Africa must continue to develop. So we know that Africa has a very diverse landscape and resources and this can be harnessed through the welfare nexus approach, through the local context, by leveraging, for example, renewable energy resources, promoting climate smart agriculture, integrating indigenous knowledge those who knows, especially in the context of ecosystem forest management. Indigenous knowledge are very, very important. As I mentioned earlier, regional collaboration and innovation financings can further optimize resources to enhance sustainability and resilience across the continent. So collaboration is also very important to really harness the benefits of NESTOS in Africa the benefits of nexus in Africa.
Speaker 1:As we talk about this point, about also what to do and what are the calls for action from your point of view, kamalavi, if you need to think, what are the recommendations that you would give for the policymakers, the researchers, the practitioners to actually realize the potential of the WFI, either if it was in excess in Africa or on a global level? What are the recommendations that you would give?
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you. It was clearly stated in our policy brief that first we need to engage communities, so integrate local knowledge and ensure community participation in decision making. That's one of the key things, because we want welfare benefit to be local, to be materialized at a community level. So community engagement is very, very important we think. We also believe that financing is one of the key aspects. So public-private partnership and other innovative financing model for example green bound are very, very important to be leveraged in the welfare financing. It's also important that we now highlight more strongly the aspect of ecosystem and health in the welfare nexus.
Speaker 2:We think that this part has not been developed enough or integrated enough in the whole approach. So we believe that emphasizing the role of ecosystem and health in next strategies to ensure the holistic benefits mostly we talk about water, energy and foods more than ecosystem and health, so these other two aspects must be integrated. We believe that we need to also increase the number of case studies to really provide policymakers evidence that this approach is really working and should be embraced is really working and should be embraced. As I mentioned earlier, collaboration is key and we want to avoid working silos. We need to collaborate across sectors, across ministries, across organizations and across region. We believe that it's important that we enhance data collection and sharing, and that's part of the collaboration. Data collection is very, very important and this will align and coordinate policies across water, energy, foods, ecosystem and health sectors. So, in short, these are some of the recommendations that we believe can make a change.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for your recommendations and, I believe, our listeners here. We can go on and on with a lot of questions here with you, kamalab, and I'm sure the listeners will be also interested to have a lot of more questions to ask. But there's one question that I believe might come up is where can they find this policy brief for them to read and how can they get involved to support this initiative of the Welfare Nexus?
Speaker 2:Great. I think already talking about it, as we are doing now, is key, and you know, so that more people are aware of the benefit of this integrated approach. So, from research perspective, there's a lot of collaboration that is already going on across the continents, across the continents. So I believe researchers should be approaching each other, collaborating on research topics in the sector or projects, or joint for example, joint proposal for funding, development and so on and so forth. So collaboration with stakeholders from local government, private sector and civil society to support integrated projects initiative is very, very important.
Speaker 2:I think we need to spread the awareness. This is part of what we are doing now, I believe, from social media platform and so on, about the benefit of the welfare nurses. I think we have a lot of NGOs that are working in some of these sectors. Collaborating with them and also volunteering, sometimes at a community level, can help be involved in this framework. I mentioned earlier research and education is important, so somehow we need to bring this at the university level, for example, in some of the curriculum, is also important. Participating, for example, in community programs, also at the local level, can also help to get involved in some of these aspects. And I would say. Lastly but not the least, advocating for integrated policies Raise awareness among decision makers is very, very important.
Speaker 1:Those are a lot of key points that we need to actually highlight and keep thinking about when we're working in the in the Wafi Nexus. Thank you so much, komnavi. I hope our listeners found this conversation as informative and as inspiring as I did, and I would like here to reiterate your voice and say that the Wafi Nexus is not just about, you know, theoretical concept or practice, but it's also about a practical framework that we can really dive for a real change, whether it was through collaboration or through, you know, the practical examples that you mentioned. Thank you so much, kumlavi, for sharing this valuable perspective with us and with our listeners as well, and I'd like to thank you and for our listeners. Don't forget to subscribe to our Wealth Nexus podcast for more discussions on sustainability and resilience. Until next time, stay engaged, stay informed and keep exploring the nexus of water, energy, food, ecosystem and health. Goodbye and thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you Goodbye.