The focus of our analysis is on nexus issues among energy use, incomes, employment, investment decisions, and agricultural production for meeting food and feed demands, as well as health-related effects on rural households. As an example we investigate potential policies, such as public subsidies for solar panels and increase in non-agricultural employment opportunities, for meeting energy demands and improving rural livelihoods, using an agricultural household dynamic programming model. The model includes two types of households that differ in their socio-economic characteristics - poor and rich as measured by their asset and resource endowments, which are linked through the agricultural contracts such as wage-labor and payment for irrigation supply. Moreover, we differentiate the potential impacts of policies at the intra-household level, with special focus of effects on men, women and children. The case study area is the Uttar Pradesh province of India and the main data source is the household survey. The study shows that state subsidies for solar panels improve energy use, agricultural production and incomes of both households in comparison to the business-as-usual case. Also, interactions among two households with agricultural contracts increase. The policy scenario on increasing non-agricultural employment opportunities do not change much energy use pattern of rural households but substantially improves the income levels of poor household, where such household allocates most of labor force for non-agricultural work. In contrast, the household that is better endowed with agricultural production resources looses from such a policy due to less labor available to manage its farm.

Due to global transformational trends, such as population growth, economic development and climate change, energy, water, land and human resources are increasingly under pressure to support societal development and to maintain necessary services. Decision makers need improved tools in order to be better informed about trade-offs and synergies between different development and management choices, and to help them identify options on how to sustainably manage resources. This report proposes a way to carry out a water-energy-food nexus assessment approach in order to: a) understand the interactions between water, energy and food systems in a given context, and b) evaluate the performance of a technical or policy intervention in this given context. The ultimate goal of the nexus assessment is to inform nexus related responses in terms of strategies, policy measures, planning and institutional set-up or interventions.

The Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Eastern and Southern Africa have been at the forefront to developing new energy policies and programmes aimed at reaching the UN goal of Ensuring Access to Clean Energy for All by 2030. In the year 2006, the East African Community passed the EAC Strategy to Scale Up Access to Modern Energy Services, committing its Member States to reach the UN goal of access to all by 2030. The Inter-governmental Authority for Development adopted its Environmental and Natural Resources Policy in 2007 which includes issues of renewable energy. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa launched its Model Energy Programme in 2012, followed the same year by its comprehensive baselines database on renewable resources covering all its Member States. In the year 2009, the African Union General Assembly at its 12th Ordinary Session adopted the Policy on Scaling Up Renewable Energy in Africa. The regional policies have been domesticated by Member Sates of the RECs. Although their targets are very ambitious, implementation programmes launched at national level are robust and producing results. Both in the policies and implementation programmes, gender issues have, however, not featured prominently. Noting this deficit, the Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa called for researchers to assess the extent to which energy policies in Eastern and Southern Africa have taken gender issues on board. This book is the product of that project. It has ten chapters that investigated the gender-energy nexus in Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Swaziland, Sudan and Kenya. The book will prove useful to all policy makers, researchers and analysts who may be interested in strengthening the gender content of the programmes as we move towards 2030. We believe it triggers and helps policy makers and researchers to create platforms to use its findings, and those of others, to see how in gender terms those at the bottom of the energy access pyramid can be factored into these programmes, to make sure they are not left behind.

The book’s primary intention is to serve as a roadmap for professionals working in developing countries interested in the Nexus Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) approach. The book shows a multi-disciplinary approach, showcasing the importance of the proper use of Nexus WEFE when implementing certain development programs in regions around the globe. It can be presented as a manual for an individual that either wishes to implement intervention projects following the NEXUS approach or students interested in cooperation and development. The book begins with a general explanation of the theoretical concepts and implementation processes of Nexus WEFE and continues getting into case studies, explaining the importance of proper implementation and potential drawbacks and solutions to them. This book has a particular focus on the European Union cooperation policies when implementing such an approach in developing countries.

This collection critically engages the resource use nexus. Clearly, a nexus-approach to resource policy, planning and practice is essential if sustainable development goals are to be met. In particular, in an era of climate change, an integrated approach to water, energy and agriculture is imperative. Agriculture accounts for 70% of global water withdrawals, food production accounts for 30% of global energy use and a rising global population requires more of everything. As shown in this collection, scholars of resource development, governance and management are ‘nexus sensitive’, utilizing a sort of ‘nexus sensibility’ in their work as it focuses on the needs of people particularly, but not only, in the global South. Importantly, a nexus-approach presents academics and practitioners with a discursive space in which to shape policy through research, to deepen and improve understandings of the interconnections and impacts of particular types of resource use, and to critically reflect on actions taken in the name of the ‘nexus’.

"While the energy sector is a primary target of efforts to arrest and reverse the growth of greenhouse gas emissions and lower the carbon footprint of development, it is also expected to be increasingly affected by unavoidable climate consequences from the damage already induced in the biosphere. Energy services and resources, as well as seasonal demand, will be increasingly affected by changing trends, increasing variability, greater extremes and large inter-annual variations in climate parameters in some regions. All evidence suggests that adaptation is not an optional add-on but an essential reckoning on par with other business risks. Existing energy infrastructure, new infrastructure and future planning need to consider emerging climate conditions and impacts on design, construction, operation, and maintenance. Integrated risk-based planning processes will be critical to address the climate change impacts and harmonize actions within and across sectors. Also, awareness, knowledge, and capacity impede mainstreaming of climate adaptation into the energy sector. However, the formal knowledge base is still nascent?information needs are complex and to a certain extent regionally and sector specific. This report provides an up-to-date compendium of what is known about weather variability and projected climate trends and their impacts on energy service provision and demand. It discusses emerging practices and tools for managing these impacts and integrating climate considerations into planning processes and operational practices in an environment of uncertainty. It focuses on energy sector adaptation, rather than mitigation which is not discussed in this report. This report draws largely on available scientific and peer-reviewed literature in the public domain and takes the perspective of the developing world to the extent possible."