Informing Water-Energy-Food Nexus decisions: the integrated WEF nexus model of Jordan

Due to the water shortage in Jordan, the safe water abstraction yields are often exceeded. Groundwater extractions require large amounts of energy, due to the decreasing water table levels of almost all aquifers in the country. Therefore, around 14.9 percent of the supplied electricity is consumed by water pumping and other water services.

Moreover, additional energy requirements will be needed to deal with an expanding water supply through desalination and wastewater treatment.The agriculture sector accounts for the largest share of water demand (around 52 percent), where again, groundwater is the main source. Furthermore, as a consequence of its water-scarce nature, Jordan faces increasing food insecurity being forced to import around 87 percent of its food.

Achieving sustainable water-energy-food (WEF) resources security requires developing safe operational boundaries of water use defining the conditions for water sustainability in Jordan. These boundaries were defined using a Water-Food-Energy-Climate-Ecosystems Nexus analytical framework that was highly stakeholder-driven, combined with quantitative and qualitative methods developed by the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (KTH) and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). In this flyer, the reader will be able to know the methodology used to develop WEF NEXUS model, scenario analysis, results and key findings.

Crop mapping using remote sensing in Malawi site, Egypt 

Crop mapping is key for estimating crop water productivity and the crop production per water consumed. It enables to characterize at a given time the spatial distribution of the main crop. The use of remote sensing applications combined with calibration with field data enable to create time relevant inventories and produce maps for the various cropping seasons to inform strategic planning, production monitoring for decision-making. The availability of accurate crop map is precious information for estimating crop yields, land and water productivity, estimating water consumption needed for water balance, calculation of actual evapotranspiration and it is a key input in water accounting calculation. It also indicates opportunities and risks for food security when looking at staples crops such as cereals.

Sugar beet farmer field schools for women in Egypt 

In Egypt, the sugar beet crop is planted in August and September and harvested in March and April. Most sugar beets are grown by independent farmers who contract sales directly with factories. Some sugar beets are also cultivated on leased land operated by privately owned factories. Cultivation is normally done by men in the large lands but in some areas with smaller lands, women support the household in cultivation. Farmer Field Schools (FFS) is an interactive and participatory learning by doing approach. FFS aim to improve farmers’ livelihoods and recognize their role as innovators and guardians of natural environments. This document shows the results of a sugar beet farmer field school for women in El-Minya.

Assessment of solar-powered irrigation systems in the West Bank (Palestine) 

In Palestine, energy represents a significant cost in agriculture as needed to pump, transport water or operate pressurized localized irrigation systems. Solar energy represents an opportunity to cut on production costs –once the upfront cost of the solar pumping equipment are paid for. Solar pumping can be individually or collectively owned. Renewable energy systems, such as photovoltaic (PV) based pumps are also far easier to transport than diesel generators, for example as they be moved in pieces and reassembled on site and don’t require the extra transportation problems of fuel. This study implemented in 2021 investigated the status and the impact of solar-powered irrigation systems (SPIS) in Palestine by considering the currently installed systems.

Water Productivity Baseline Assessment in Jordan 

Jordan is one of the most water scarce countries in the world. Jordan covers an area of about 89 000 km2 with a mostly Mediterranean climate (arid to semi-arid), with three main climatic and geographic zones: the highlands, Jordan Valley, and the eastern desert. The highlands extend from the northern to the southern part of the country and separate the Jordan Valley from the desert. The northern and central parts of the highlands are characterized by a hot dry summer and a cold wet winter, receiving the highest amounts of precipitation in the country. The Jordan Valley extends along the western part of the country and is the most fertile area in Jordan.

The climate is arid with a hot dry summer, a warm winter and an average precipitation of less than 200 mm per year. Agriculture consumes around 52 percent of the water withdrawn in the country. While the demand on water is continuously increasing and exceeding the available supply, it is necessary to add always more value to any drop of water. This could be achieved through assessing and improving water productivity. Water productivity is broadly defined as the ratio of the outputs obtained from crops to the amount of water used to produce those outputs.

Gender, Water and Agriculture - Assessing the NEXUS in Egypt | REPORT

The economic contribution of women to agricultural and irrigation activities and to the livelihoods, well-being and food security of families and communities is often unrecognized, invisible and mostly undervalued. Moreover, the role of women in fetching, preserving and managing productive and non-productive water often goes unrecognized and understudied. Hence, this assessment aims to shed light on the different contributions and benefits of women and men in relation to agricultural roles, responsibilities and resources, focusing mainly on productive agricultural resources, including water, to inform more efficient, equitable and gender-responsive programmes in the future.

Gender, Water and Agriculture - Assessing the NEXUS in Palestine 

Gender-responsive water and agriculture assessments study the relative situation of women and men in different communities regarding water access, governance and usage. A study has been implemented in Palestine using the Gender Responsive Water Assessment methodolgy developed under the Water Efficiency, productivity and Sustainability regional project and this flyer summarizes the activity, as well as the main recommendations extracted from the study.

Water Productivity Baseline Survey - Main Findings from Palestine 

Water scarcity is a major challenge in many countries, and in Palestine in particular, thereby threatening agricultural production, food security, and the livelihood of rural communities. With the multiplying effect of climate change, it is anticipated that the problem of water shortage in Palestine will increase in the future, especially because of the increasing demand for water resources and the lack of sovereignty on natural resources. During the seventies to nineties of the last century, the agricultural sector was the main user of freshwater resources and the contribution of this sector to GDP was around 30 percent. Unfortunately, it dropped to around 7.36 percent in 2018, due to the several political, technical and financial obstacles. Against this backdrop, Palestine needs to focus on increasing agricultural production with progressive less water availability, i.e., increasing Water Productivity. This flyer summarizes the background, mthodology, results and key recommendations of the water Productivity baseline study and farmer survey assessment done in Palestine under the Water Efficiency, Productivity and Sustainability regional project.

Rapid Water Accounting - Al Moqatta' Palestine

This flyer aims to communicate information about Rapid Water Accounting (RWA); a simple water accounting (WA) that primarily uses existing data, rather than collecting new data and developing new models. RWA is recommended for the first cycle of water accounting.

Rapid Water Accounting for Malawi Site in Al Minya Egypt

This flyer provides information about water accounting concept and methodology to increase the knowledge of technical experts from the Ministry of Irrigation and Ministry of Agriculture when working in the field. This publication comes under the activities of the regional project on “Implementing the 2030 Agenda for water efficiency/productivity and water sustainability in NENA countries”. However, this publication is specifically targeting technical experts working in Egypt.

Water harvesting for Al-Mashare' Jordan

This brochure communicates key and informative facts related to the project activities' update in Jordan. The reader will have a background info about the project site; Al-Mashare' area in Jordan Valley in addition to the main objectives of building the water harvesting structure, its implementation and result.

Rapid Water Accounting - Al-Mashare' Jordan

The brochure communicates key and informative facts related to the project activities' update in Jordan. The reader will have a general idea about water accounting, study area with the site and its context, in addition to the end result.

Implementing the 2030 Agenda for water efficiency/productivity and water sustainability in Near East and North Africa (NENA) countries

The NENA region already exposed to chronic shortage of water will face in the coming decades a severe intensification of water scarcity due to several drivers, including demographic growth and its related food demands, urbanization, energy demand and overall socio-economic development. Furthermore, NENA is experiencing more frequent, intense extreme events (in particular droughts) as a consequence of climate change. The project aims to support this transformational change and aims to set the proper framework for implementing the 2030 agenda for water efficiency and productivity (SDG 6.4) and define the safe boundaries for effective water sustainability.