CGIAR Initiative on NEXUS Gains

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/117900

Part of the CGIAR Action Area on Systems Transformation

Primary CGIAR impact area: Environmental health and biodiversity

https://www.cgiar.org/initiative/28-nexus-gains-realizing-multiple-benefits-across-water-energy-food-forest-biodiversity-systems/

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Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 20 of 515
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    Climate change will exacerbate seasonal flow variability in the Karnali River Basin: implications for water, energy, and agriculture sectors
    (Journal Article, 2025-05) Pradhananga, Saurav; Nepal, Santosh; Kamal, S. K.; Hafeez, Mohsin
    Climate change impacts water resources in the Himalayan region, with cross-sectoral effects felt across various scales. This study focuses on the Karnali River, which is crucial for livelihoods, agriculture, and hydropower generation in the region, and assesses the impact of climate change on these sectors. We use the SWATþ hydrological model with bias-corrected high-resolution CMIP6 projections to simulate future hydrology. Winter and spring discharge is projected to decrease by 3 (SSP245) to 23% (SSP585), while monsoon and post-monsoon discharge may increase by up to 18 (SSP245) and 51% (SSP585) by the end-century, primarily due to precipitation changes. Wet energy production from the Upper Karnali hydropower project is likely to increase, whereas dry energy may decrease, reducing overall reliability. The highest wet energy increase (9%) occurs under SSP585’s cold-wet scenario, while the largest dry energy decline (16%) is under SSP245’s warm-dry scenario by the end-century. Irrigation water requirements for paddy and wheat are also expected to increase, with paddy’s initial growth stage potentially doubling under warm-dry SSP585 conditions by the end-century. Our findings highlight the need for integrated water, food, and energy management strategies in the Karnali River basin to address the cross-sectoral impacts, particularly considering climate change challenges.
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    A Decision Support Tool for Stakeholder Engagement in Sustainable Land Management Using the WEFE Nexus: A Simulation for the Aral Sea Basin Stakeholders
    (Book Chapter, 1970-01-01) Verbist, Joren; Akramkhanov, Akmal
    Land degradation affects billions of people, particularly in developing countries, exacerbating poverty and climate change. Sustainable Land Management (SLM) practices offer solutions, but decision-making is complex and requires considering multiple stakeholders. This paper proposes a Decision Support Tool (DST) based on Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) and the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus framework. The DST integrates WEFE sector stakeholders’ perspectives through the Best–Worst Method (BWM), facilitating informed land management choices. A case study in the Aral Sea Basin illustrates the DST’s applicability, demonstrating how four WEFE simulated stakeholders might prioritize SLMs. While the DST provides valuable insights, it requires careful consideration of contextual factors and encourages (deeper) sectoral stakeholder dialogue. Overall, the DST serves as a practical tool to enhance WEFE sectors stakeholders’ inclusivity and improve decision-making in SLM, offering potential solutions to mitigate land degradation and its associated socio-economic challenges.
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    Stakeholders in Nepal work together to enhance collective action for municipal groundwater management
    (Blog Post, 2025-06-05) KC, Sumitra; Khadka, Manohara; Fanaian, Safa; Mishra, Anuj
    The Barahathawa Municipality in southern Nepal has been creating a model for effective groundwater management to ensure prosperity, social equity and environmental sustainability. This example highlights how local leadership and multi-stakeholder collaboration can address complex and interconnected challenges in natural resource management.
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    Direct seeded rice in Haryana (India) ABY districts: impact and lessons for scaling
    (Report, 2025-05-30) Mutum, Lamnganbi; Mizan, Syed Adil; Bhatpuria, Dhyey; Taneja, Garima; Mitra, Archisman; Gupta, S. K.; Sikka, Alok
    Rice is a staple crop in India, traditionally cultivated using the Transplanted Puddled Rice (TPR) method. This traditional method, while effective and very popular amongst farmers, is highly labour, water, and energy-intensive, that leads to significant groundwater depletion and higher energy usage in pumping groundwater. In response to these challenges, the Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) method has been introduced as a more sustainable alternative. DSR involves sowing seeds directly into the field, eliminating the need for growing and transplanting seedlings. This method, tested in various field trials, promises to have several benefits, including water savings, reduced labour and production costs, higher economic returns, and lower methane emissions. However, the success in farmer fields when adopted at scale outside trials remains to be analysed critically. In that context, this study was commissioned through a MoU with National Project Management Unit (NPMU), Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABY). ABY, also known as Atal Jal, is a central sector scheme aimed at sustainable groundwater management with community participation. Launched in December 2019, ABY focuses on improving groundwater management in water-stressed areas across seven states, including Haryana. The adoption of DSR in Haryana has been gradual but promising. The area under rice cultivation in the state has increased significantly over the years, with initial efforts to introduce DSR beginning around 2009. The state government has played a crucial role in promoting DSR by offering financial incentives to farmers. In 2022, an incentive of INR 4000 per acre1 was introduced to encourage farmers to adopt DSR. Given its uptake in Haryana, the objective of this study is to assess the socio-economic and environmental benefits of DSR, identify the challenges, and offer recommendations for scaling up this technology in Haryana and other regions. The study employed a multi-faceted approach including qualitative surveys with stakeholders, focus group discussions, field visits, and a large-scale quantitative survey (sample size is 809) of DSR and TPR farmers across selected districts in Haryana to assess the impact of DSR. These farmer-level sources were complemented by water flow meter data analysis and remote sensing analysis.
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    Determinants of household water and energy access and their impacts on food security and health outcomes in Sudan
    (Working Paper, 2025-05-20) Kirui, Oliver K.; Ahmed, Mosab; Raouf, Mariam; Abushama, Hala; Siddig, Khalid
    This study investigates the determinants of access to safe water and reliable energy for households in Sudan using nationally representative data from a recent labor market survey. The results show that urbanization, education, and wealth significantly enhance the access households have to these essential services, while rural areas and less developed regions, particularly in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, face substantial challenges. Access to reliable energy correlates with better food security and health outcomes within households, and improved access to safe water significantly enhances the health of household members. Policy recommendations supported by these research results include targeted rural infrastructure investments, educational improvements, and regional interventions to address disparities in household access to safe water and reliable energy across Sudan.
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    Social Accounting Matrix for Okara District, Pakistan: A Water Resources Accountability in Pakistan (WRAP) Project Analysis
    (Data Paper, 2025-05-09) Davies, Stephen; Ali, Muhammad Tahir; Akram, Iqra; Hafeez, Mohsin
    The aim of this paper is to develop a document to guide the methodology and data resources used to develop a local Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for Okara district in Punjab, Pakistan, and to provide an overview of the SAM results. Regional SAMs at lower administrative levels can be used to understand the regional economic impact of geographically targeted policies and shocks. The common data standards, procedures, and classification systems for national SAMs are adapted and modified for these regional SAMs. This approach and paper closely follow the development of SAM construction outlined in IFPRI’s NEXUS Project, which emphasized the need for greater transparency and consistency in SAM construction to strengthen model-based research and policy analysis in developing countries. Utilizing much of that Project’s general structure, our results permit comparisons at regional administrative scales, especially in agriculture and food systems including water resources dimensions. Additionally, this paper develops a companion method to evaluate direct and indirect water use associated with the economic changes produced from SAM analyses. We hope this methodology can be used to develop SAMs for other districts in the future.
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    Unveiling pervasive assumptions: moving beyond the poverty-biodiversity loss association in conservation
    (Journal Article, 2025-05-08) Carmenta, Rachel; Lima, Mairon G. Bastos; Zaehringer, Julie G.; Vira, Bhaskar; Turnhout, Esther; Reed, James; Pettorelli, Nathalie; Pascual, Unai; Martin, Adria; Lees, Alexander; Killick, Evan; Nana, Eric; Kallis, Giorgos; Hicks, Christina; Estrada-Carmona, Natalia; Dawson, Neil; Choiruzzad, Shofwan A.B.; Barlow, Jos
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    Water productivity in South Asia: spatial and temporal variations
    (Book Chapter, 2025-04-13) Amarasinghe, Upali; Sikka, Alok; Perera, Madhusha; Alahacoon, Niranga
    This chapter assesses the variations and options for improving water productivity to address water risks and insecurity in South Asian countries. The water productivity indicators of focus are physical water productivity (PWP)—the production per unit of water use, and economic water productivity (EWP), the value of production per unit of water use. A significant potential exists to increase PWP in many South Asian countries and regions with no water scarcity. These regions require increased access to water. However, increasing EWP should take precedence under water-scarce conditions. The latter may require reducing water-intensive crop areas and diversifying to less water-intensive crops.
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    CGIAR Research Initiative on NEXUS Gains: Annual Technical Report 2024
    (Report, 2025-04-15) CGIAR Initiative on NEXUS Gains
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    IFPRI-Sudan: Generating evidence-based solutions for strengthening humanitarian response and economic resilience
    (Brief, 2025-04-07) Siddig, Khalid; Abay, Kibrom A.; Kirui, Oliver K.; Abushama, Hala; Mohamed, Shima; Rakhy, Tarig
    Sudan is experiencing one of the most severe humanitarian and economic crises in its modern history due to the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Sudan is now suffering the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. The war has devastated livelihoods, displaced millions, and significantly weakened the country’s agrifood systems and broader economic structures. In response, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), along with its partners, has intensified its research and policy engagement in Sudan through the Sudan Strategy Support Program (SSSP), which was launched in 2022. IFPRI’s work on Sudan is centered on addressing fragility, post-conflict recovery, resilience-building, and economic development. Its research and policy engagements focus on food security, economy-wide modeling, social protection, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSME), and agricultural resilience as it works to provide critical evidence-based insights to support recovery efforts that will enable Sudan to regain peace and economic growth and stability. Through high-frequency data collection, impact evaluations, and policy dialogues, the SSSP team has continued to deliver data-driven solutions to inform humanitarian responses, economic revitalization, and development planning in Sudan. By collaborating with organizations such as the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, and other CGIAR centers and initiatives, IFPRI, through SSSP, has generated information to design effective interventions for conflict-affected populations and institutions working to rebuild Sudan’s economy.
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    Sudan Strategy Support Program (SSSP): Background and research output
    (Brief, 2025-04-03) International Food Policy Research Institute
    The Sudan Strategy Support Program (SSSP), one of the country programs of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), commenced operations in May 2022 from the premises of the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, its official host institution in Sudan. Established with funding from USAID, the United States Agency for International Development, the program has also formed partnerships or received support from a number of prominent organizations, including the CGIAR Initiative on Fragility, Conflict, and Migration, the CGIAR Initiative on NEXUS Gains, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, the World Food Programme, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).