Quantifying Sustainable Land-Water-Energy-Food Nexus: The Case of Sustainable Livelihoods in an East African Rift Valley
The sustainable management of Land-Water-Energy-Food (LWEF) nexus requires an environmental characterization that allows the comparison of complex interlinkages between nexus resources and livelihoods. This complexity makes this characterization difficult coupled with limited study in quantifying su...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Atmosphere |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/4/638 |
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| author | Zinabu Wolde Wei Wu Haile Ketema Benjamin Karikari Xiansheng Liu |
| author_facet | Zinabu Wolde Wei Wu Haile Ketema Benjamin Karikari Xiansheng Liu |
| author_sort | Zinabu Wolde |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The sustainable management of Land-Water-Energy-Food (LWEF) nexus requires an environmental characterization that allows the comparison of complex interlinkages between nexus resources and livelihoods. This complexity makes this characterization difficult coupled with limited study in quantifying sustainability of LWEF nexus and its linkage with livelihood. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the link between sustainable LWEF nexus and livelihoods. In order to address the objective the proposed methodology starts with a detailed identification of LWEF and livelihood indicators which depicts well-defined, shared, and holistic methods to evaluate sustainability. With this we used analytical hierarchy process and pair wise comparison matrix in combination with weighting model. The result of composite LWEF nexus index was 0.083 representing, low sustainability. Besides, this composite index implies the use and management of LWEF nexus resources in the study area is very low, as the composite index approach to 1, the use and management of nexus resources are in a good condition which characterized by sustainability. This could be linked with nexus resources consumption, use, and management. From the analysis of the weight of land, water, energy and food nexus resources, the highest weight was observed for food. The focus of on food production only shows no clear synergy on provisioning, supporting or regulating nexus resources to address livelihoods. The result further showed that LWEF nexus resources have strong correlation with livelihoods. This was evidenced by social (r > 0.8, <i>p</i> < 0.01), natural (r > 0.3, <i>p</i> < 0.05) and physical (r > 0.6, <i>p</i> < 0.01) livelihood indicators showed strong positive correlation with LWEF nexus resources. Based on the finding of the study, it was observed that managing nexus resources not only provide a significant contribution to achieve sustainable LWEF nexus, but also be effective for enhancing livelihood through food security. This could be attained by strong evidence based policy to ensure sustainable use of nexus resources. The results provided by this study would serve as the foundation for future study, policy formulation and implementation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:10:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8fa74f18b7ad4c25991740dcd87ab440 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:10:13Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-8fa74f18b7ad4c25991740dcd87ab4402023-12-01T00:47:52ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332022-04-0113463810.3390/atmos13040638Quantifying Sustainable Land-Water-Energy-Food Nexus: The Case of Sustainable Livelihoods in an East African Rift ValleyZinabu Wolde0Wei Wu1Haile Ketema2Benjamin Karikari3Xiansheng Liu4College of Land Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, ChinaCollege of Land Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, ChinaCollege of Land Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, ChinaFaculty of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Sciences, University for Development Studies, Tamale 1882, GhanaCollege of Land Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, ChinaThe sustainable management of Land-Water-Energy-Food (LWEF) nexus requires an environmental characterization that allows the comparison of complex interlinkages between nexus resources and livelihoods. This complexity makes this characterization difficult coupled with limited study in quantifying sustainability of LWEF nexus and its linkage with livelihood. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the link between sustainable LWEF nexus and livelihoods. In order to address the objective the proposed methodology starts with a detailed identification of LWEF and livelihood indicators which depicts well-defined, shared, and holistic methods to evaluate sustainability. With this we used analytical hierarchy process and pair wise comparison matrix in combination with weighting model. The result of composite LWEF nexus index was 0.083 representing, low sustainability. Besides, this composite index implies the use and management of LWEF nexus resources in the study area is very low, as the composite index approach to 1, the use and management of nexus resources are in a good condition which characterized by sustainability. This could be linked with nexus resources consumption, use, and management. From the analysis of the weight of land, water, energy and food nexus resources, the highest weight was observed for food. The focus of on food production only shows no clear synergy on provisioning, supporting or regulating nexus resources to address livelihoods. The result further showed that LWEF nexus resources have strong correlation with livelihoods. This was evidenced by social (r > 0.8, <i>p</i> < 0.01), natural (r > 0.3, <i>p</i> < 0.05) and physical (r > 0.6, <i>p</i> < 0.01) livelihood indicators showed strong positive correlation with LWEF nexus resources. Based on the finding of the study, it was observed that managing nexus resources not only provide a significant contribution to achieve sustainable LWEF nexus, but also be effective for enhancing livelihood through food security. This could be attained by strong evidence based policy to ensure sustainable use of nexus resources. The results provided by this study would serve as the foundation for future study, policy formulation and implementation.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/4/638local communitylivelihoodssustainabilityland-water-energy-foodnexusindicator |
| spellingShingle | Zinabu Wolde Wei Wu Haile Ketema Benjamin Karikari Xiansheng Liu Quantifying Sustainable Land-Water-Energy-Food Nexus: The Case of Sustainable Livelihoods in an East African Rift Valley Atmosphere local community livelihoods sustainability land-water-energy-food nexus indicator |
| title | Quantifying Sustainable Land-Water-Energy-Food Nexus: The Case of Sustainable Livelihoods in an East African Rift Valley |
| title_full | Quantifying Sustainable Land-Water-Energy-Food Nexus: The Case of Sustainable Livelihoods in an East African Rift Valley |
| title_fullStr | Quantifying Sustainable Land-Water-Energy-Food Nexus: The Case of Sustainable Livelihoods in an East African Rift Valley |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantifying Sustainable Land-Water-Energy-Food Nexus: The Case of Sustainable Livelihoods in an East African Rift Valley |
| title_short | Quantifying Sustainable Land-Water-Energy-Food Nexus: The Case of Sustainable Livelihoods in an East African Rift Valley |
| title_sort | quantifying sustainable land water energy food nexus the case of sustainable livelihoods in an east african rift valley |
| topic | local community livelihoods sustainability land-water-energy-food nexus indicator |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/4/638 |
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