Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Opportunities for improved promotion of ecosystem services in agriculture under the Water-Energy-Food Nexus

  • Published:
Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 22 December 2016

Abstract

In this study, we focus on water quality as a vehicle to illustrate the role that the water, energy, and food (WEF) Nexus perspective may have in promoting ecosystem services in agriculture. The mediation of water quality by terrestrial systems is a key ecosystem service for a range of actors (municipalities, fishers, industries, and energy providers) and is reshaped radically by agricultural activity. To address these impacts, many programs exist to promote improved land-use practices in agriculture; however, where these practices incur a cost or other burden to the farmer, adoption can be low unless some form of incentive is provided (as in a payment for ecosystem services (PES) program). Provision of such incentives can be a challenge to sustain in the long term, if there is not a clear beneficiary or other actor willing to provide them. Successfully closing the loop between impacts and incentives often requires identifying a measurable and valuable service with a clear central beneficiary that is impacted by the summative effects of the diffuse agricultural practices across the landscape. Drawing on cases from our own research, we demonstrate how the WEF Nexus perspective—by integrating non-point-source agricultural problems under well-defined energy issues—can highlight central beneficiaries of improved agricultural practice, where none may have existed otherwise.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allan T, Matthews N (2016) The water, energy and food nexus and ecosystems: the political economy of food and non-food supply chains, in: Dodds F, Bartram J (Eds), The Water, Food, Energy and Climate Nexus: Challenges and an Agenda for Action. Earthscan

  • Anyusheva M, Lamers M, La N, Nguyen VV, Streck T (2012) Fate of pesticides in combined paddy rice-fish pond farming systems in northern Vietnam. J Environ Qual 41:515–25. doi:10.2134/jeq2011.0066

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baudron F, Jaleta M, Okitoi O, Tegegn A (2014) Conservation agriculture in African mixed crop-livestock systems: expanding the niche. Agric Ecosyst Environ 187:171–182. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2013.08.020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bell A, Zhang W, Nou K (2016) Pesticide use and cooperative management of natural enemy habitat in a framed field experiment. Agric Syst 143:1–13. doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2015.11.012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bianchi FJJ, Booij CJH, Tscharntke T (2006) Sustainable pest regulation in agricultural landscapes: a review on landscape composition, biodiversity and natural pest control. Proc Biol Sci 273:1715–27. doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.3530

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bianchi FJJ, Van der Werf W (2003) The effect of the area and configuration of hibernation sites on the control of aphids by < I > Coccinella septempunctata</I > (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) in agricultural landscapes: a simulation study. Environ Entomol 32:1290–1304. doi:10.1603/0046-225X-32.6.1290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bland S, Donda S (1995) Common property and poverty: fisheries co-management in Malawi. Fish Bull 30:1–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheng J (2009) Rice planthopper problems and relevant causes in China. In: Heong K, Hardy B (eds) Planthoppers: New threats to the sustainability of intensive rice production systems in Asia. International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, pp 157–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Corbeels M, de Graaff J, Ndah TH, Penot E, Baudron F, Naudin K, Andrieu N, Chirat G, Schuler J, Nyagumbo I, Rusinamhodzi L, Traore K, Mzoba HD, Adolwa IS (2014) Understanding the impact and adoption of conservation agriculture in Africa: a multi-scale analysis. Agric Ecosyst Environ 187:155–170. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2013.10.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dung N, Dung T (1999). Economic And Health Consequences Of Pesticide Use In Paddy Production In The Mekong Delta, Vietnam

  • Engel S, Schaefer M (2013) Ecosystem services—a useful concept for addressing water challenges? Curr Opin Environ Sustain 5:696–707. doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2013.11.010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ESCOM (2015). Generation - ESCOM [WWW Document]. URL http://www.escom.mw/generation.php

  • FAOSTAT (2013) Statistics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [WWW Document]. URL http://faostat3.fao.org/home/index.html

  • Farley J, Aquino A, Daniels A, Moulaert A, Lee D, Krause A (2010) Global mechanisms for sustaining and enhancing PES schemes. Ecol Econ 69:2075–2084. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2010.02.016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farley J, Costanza R (2010) Payments for ecosystem services: from local to global. Ecol Econ 69:2060–2068. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2010.06.010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feldman PR, Rosenboom J-W, Saray M, Samnang C, Navuth P, Iddings S (2007) Assessment of the chemical quality of drinking water in Cambodia. J Water Health 5:101. doi:10.2166/wh.2006.048

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ficarelli P, Chuma E, Ramaru J, Murwira K, Hagmann J (2003) Strengthening local organizations for conservation agriculture—some experiences from South Africa and Zimbabwe, in: Proceedings of the 2nd World Congress on Conservation Agriculture. Iguaçu Falls, Paraná, pp 11–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman III A M (2003) Economic valuation: what and why. In A primer on nonmarket valuation. Springer, Netherlands, p 1–25

  • Giller K, Witter E, Corbeels M, Tittonell P (2009) Conservation agriculture and smallholder farming in Africa: the heretics’ view. F Crop Res 114:23–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gómez Tovar L, Martin L, Gómez Cruz MA, Mutersbaugh T (2005) Certified organic agriculture in Mexico: Market connections and certification practices in large and small producers. J Rural Stud 21:461–474. doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2005.10.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoff H (2011) Understanding the Nexus: Background paper for the Bonn2011 Nexus Conference, in: Bonn2011 Conference: The Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus. Solutions for the Green Economy. Bonn 52

  • Horowitz A, D’Amore M (1992) Environmental and economic costs of pesticide use. Bioscience 42:750–760

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurford AP, Harou JJ (2014) Balancing ecosystem services with energy and food security—assessing trade-offs from reservoir operation and irrigation investments in Kenya’s Tana Basin. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 18:3259–3277. doi:10.5194/hess-18-3259-2014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarvie HP, Sharpley AN, Flaten D, Kleinman PJ a, Jenkins A, Simmons T (2015) The pivotal role of phosphorus in a resilient water-energy-food security Nexus. J Environ Qual 44:1049–62. doi:10.2134/jeq2015.01.0030

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen HK, Konradsen F, Jørs E, Petersen JH, Dalsgaard A (2011) Pesticide use and self-reported symptoms of acute pesticide poisoning among aquatic farmers in Phnom Penh. Cambodia J Toxicol 2011:639814. doi:10.1155/2011/639814

    Google Scholar 

  • Karabulut A, Egoh BN, Lanzanova D, Grizzetti B, Bidoglio G, Pagliero L, Bouraoui F, Aloe A, Reynaud A, Maes J, Vandecasteele I, Mubareka S (2015) Mapping water provisioning services to support the ecosystem–water–food–energy nexus in the Danube river basin. Ecosyst Serv. doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2015.08.002

    Google Scholar 

  • Kassam A, Friedrich T (2010) Conservation Agriculture : Concepts, worldwide experience, and lessons for success of CA-based systems in the semi-arid Mediterranean environments. Options Méditerranéennes 11–51

  • Knowler D, Bradshaw B (2007) Farmers’ adoption of conservation agriculture: a review and synthesis of recent research. Food Policy 32:25–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumambala P (2010) Sustainability of water resources development for Malawi with particular emphasis on North and Central Malawi Patsani G. University of Glasgow, Kumambala

    Google Scholar 

  • Leese M, Meisch S (2015) Securitising sustainability? Questioning the “Water, Energy and Food-Security Nexus.”. Water Altern 8:695–709

    Google Scholar 

  • Malawi (2010) The Agriculture Sector Wide Approach (ASWAp): Malawi’s prioritised and harmonised Agricultural Development Agenda. Lilongwe

  • McCann L (2005) Transaction costs of pesticide policies in Vietnam. Soc Nat Resour 18:759–766. doi:10.1080/08941920591005340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mulwafu W, Chavula G, Chipeta C, Ferguson A, Chilima G, Nkhoma B (2002) The Status of Water Demand Management in Malawi and Strategies for Promoting it. Zomba, Malawi

  • Ndah HT, Schuler J, Uthes S, Zander P, Traore K, Gama M-S, Nyagumbo I, Triomphe B, Sieber S, Corbeels M (2014) Adoption potential of conservation agriculture practices in sub-Saharan Africa: results from five case studies. Environ Manag 53:620–35. doi:10.1007/s00267-013-0215-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ngwira A, Johnsen FH, Aune JB, Mekuria M, Thierfelder C (2014) Adoption and extent of conservation agriculture practices among smallholder farmers in Malawi. J Soil Water Conserv 69:107–119. doi:10.2489/jswc.69.2.107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orr A, Mwale B, Saiti D (2002) Modelling agricultural “performance”: Smallholder weed management in Southern Malawi. Int J Pest Manag 48:265–278. doi:10.1080/09670870210149808

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pagiola S (2008) Payments for environmental services in Costa Rica. Ecol Econ 65:712–724

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pagiola S, Ramírez E, Gobbi J, de Haan C, Ibrahim M, Murgueitio E, Ruíz JP (2007) Paying for the environmental services of silvopastoral practices in Nicaragua. Ecol Econ 64:374–385. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2007.04.014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parkhurst GM, Shogren JF, Bastian C, Kivi P, Donner J, Smith RBW (2002) Agglomeration bonus: an incentive mechanism to reunite fragmented habitat for biodiversity conservation. Ecol Econ 41:305–328. doi:10.1016/S0921-8009(02)00036-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasul G (2014) Food, water, and energy security in South Asia: a nexus perspective from the Hindu Kush Himalayan region☆. Environ Sci Pol 39:35–48. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2014.01.010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ribaudo M, Horan R (1998) Resources & environment-the clean water action plan: implications for agriculture. Agric Outlook (255):23–25

  • Ribaudo M, Greene C, Hansen L, Hellerstein D (2010) Ecosystem services from agriculture: steps for expanding markets. Ecol Econ 69:2085–2092. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2010.02.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ringler C, Bhaduri A, Lawford R (2013) The nexus across water, energy, land and food (WELF): potential for improved resource use efficiency? Curr Opin Environ Sustain 5:617–624. doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2013.11.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shela ON (2000) Naturalisation of lake malawi levels and shire river flows, in: 1st WARFSA/WaterNet Symposium: Sustainable Use of Water Resources. Maputo:12

  • Snapp SS, Rohrbach DD, Simtowe F, Freeman H a (2002) Sustainable soil management options for Malawi: can smallholder farmers grow more legumes? Agric Ecosyst Environ 91:159–174. doi:10.1016/S0167-8809(01)00238-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoll JS, Johnson TR (2015) Under the banner of sustainability: the politics and prose of an emerging US federal seafood certification. Mar Policy 51:415–422. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2014.09.027

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pascal U, Muradian R, Brander L, Gomez-Baggethun E, Martin-Lopez B, Berma M, Christie M (2010) TEEB chapter 5 the economics of valuing ecosystem services and biodiversity. In: Kumar P (ed) The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity: Ecological and Economic Foundations. Taylor & Francis, London, p 183–256

  • Toan P Van, Sebesvari Z, Phuong V, Loan H, Renaud F (2010) Monitoring and modeling the fate of commonly used pesticides in surface water of the Lower Mekong Delta. Geophys. Res Abstr :12

  • Van Hoi P, Mol APJ, Oosterveer PJM (2009) Market governance for safe food in developing countries: the case of low-pesticide vegetables in Vietnam. J Environ Manag 91:380–8. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2009.09.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vanclay F, Lawrence G (1994) Farmer rationality and the adoption of environmentally sound practices: a critique of the assumptions of traditional agricultural extension. Eur J Agric Educ Ext 1:59–90. doi:10.1080/13892249485300061

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward PS, Bell AR, Parkhurst GM (2015) Heterogeneous Preferences and the Effects of Incentives in Promoting Conservation Agriculture in Malawi (No. 01440), IFPRI Discussion Paper Series. Washington, DC

  • Weaver Robert D (1996) Prosocial behavior: private contributions to agriculture's impact on the environment. Land Econ 231–247

  • Winarto Y (2004) The evolutionary changes in rice-crop farming: integrated pest management in Indonesia, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Southeast Asian Stud 42:241–272

    Google Scholar 

  • World Economic Forum (2011) Water security: the water-food-energy-climate nexus. Washington, DC

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the anonymous reviewers and the editors for their helpful comments. Malawi work was funded under two independent projects. The first of these ‘Smart Subsidies for Catchment Conservation in Malawi’ (NERC Reference NE/L001624/1) was funded with support from the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) programme. The ESPA programme is funded by the Department for International Development (DFID), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). The second grant was funded by the BASIS AMA Innovation Lab, which is supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Work in Cambodia and Vietnam was undertaken with financial support from the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land, and Ecosystems (WLE) and the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Studies, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Andrew Bell

  2. The CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems, CGIAR, Colombo, Sri Lanka

    Nathanial Matthews

  3. Environment and Production Technology Division, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA

    Wei Zhang

Authors
  1. Andrew Bell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nathanial Matthews
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Wei Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nathanial Matthews.

Additional information

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13412-016-0420-7.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bell, A., Matthews, N. & Zhang, W. Opportunities for improved promotion of ecosystem services in agriculture under the Water-Energy-Food Nexus. J Environ Stud Sci 6, 183–191 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-016-0366-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-016-0366-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation