International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development

Kathmandu, Nepal

Food, Water, and Energy Security in

the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region:

A Nexus Perspective

International Workshop on Adaptations and Resilience

of Local Communities in the HKH, Hamburg, Germany

9th-11th October, 2011

Golam Rasul, Theme Leader, Livelihoods

Outline

1. Background & motivation

2. Nexus challenges

3. Different aspects of Nexus approach

4. Role of Himalayas in Nexus security

5. Challenge in sustaining HKH ecosystems

6. Conclusions & Recommendations

1. Background and Motivation

Food, Water, Energy Security:

A common challenge

• Over 40% of the world's poor

live in SA

• Food-energy deficiency- 51%

• Growing water stress- 20%

lack access to safe drinking

water

• Food, Water & Energy

security is a common

challenge for SA

Food, Water, Energy Security: A

common challenge

• With 3% of land, SA has to feed 20% population

• Per capita agricultural land has been declining

• Population will reach 2.2 billion in 2050

• Cereal demand will increase from 241 476 million MT in 2050

• Increased production needs to come from limited or shrinking areas of cultivable lands

• Water demand for irrigation will increase about 70%

• Fertilizer demand will increase over 100%

Food, Water, Energy Security: A

common challenge

• About 7080% of agricultural production

depends on groundwater irrigation

• Electricity consumption in irrigation has

increased several times

• Food production highly sensitive & vulnerable to

climate changes

• Climate change likely to increase water & energy

demand for food production & land demand for

bio-fuel production

Food, Water, Energy Security: A

common challenge

• Himalayas major source of water & diverse

ecosystem service critical for

food, water, energy security in SA

• Inadequate understanding about the nexus

between food, water & energy in Upstream-

downstream context-

• Concept of Food, Water, Energy is critically

important for SA

Motivation of the study

• Missing link in the Nexus Discourse

– Role of Ecosystems in sustaining food, water, energy security

– Regional dimensions- transboundary water management

• Key motivation

– To understand the nexus between food, water & energy in SA

• Role of the Himalayas ecosystem services in addressing the growing challenges of water, energy & food security.

• 2. Nexus Challenges

Nexus Challenges: Food Security

• Food production needs to be doubled in next 25

years

• Per capita agricultural land has been declining

• Rice & wheat- high water & energy demanding

• Increased production needs to come from limited or

shrinking areas of cultivable lands

• Intensification of agriculture has led to a great

dependence on water & energy

• Competition for land for food and bio-energy crops &

ecosystem services

Nexus Challenges: Water Security

• Growing water demand for agriculture, energy, industry, human & livestock

• Uneven endowment of water resources

• Almost 90% water is consumed by the agriculture sector

• About 20% of the population lack access to safe drinking water

• Groundwater depletion: 70-80% of the agricultural production depends on groundwater irrigation

• Water pollution – arsenic, water borne diseases, high child mortality, poor human health, salinization

• Growing water stress- Pakistan, India

Challenges: Irrigation

Trend, Water Stress

Irrigated land as % of arable land, India

501

1841

4509

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

1965 1985 2002

Irrigated area in Bangladesh ‘000 ha

5.8

20.8

56

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1965 1985 2002

Irrigated land as % of arable land, Bangladesh

25,523

40,637

57,178

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

1965 1985 2002

Irrigated area in India ‘000 ha

16

25

35

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

1965 1985 2002

Challenges: Irrigation Trend, Water

Stress

77

673

1,135

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1965 1985 2002

4

29

36

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

1965 1985 2002

Irrigated land as % of arable land, Nepal Irrigated land in Nepal, ‘000 ha

11,139

15,548

17,810

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

18,000

20,000

1965 1985 2002

62.9

77.683

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1965 1985 2002

Irrigated land in Pakistan, ‘000 ha Irrigated land as % of arable land, Pakistan

Challenges: Changing irrigation

sources in SA

Net irrigated area served by

groundwater (000' ha)

Groundwater

irrigation as % of

surface

irrigation in

2000-2001

1993-94 2000-

01

Change %

Key Indian

states

17,413 21,760 + 25 197

Pakistan 8760 10,340 18 276

Sindh 140 200 42.9

Bangladesh 2124 3462 63 721

Increased extraction of

groundwater has lowered

the groundwater table in

some parts of SA (Jaitly

2009).

Nexus Challenges: Energy Security

• Widening demand - supply gap

• 63% no electricity -65% use biomass for cooking

• Shortage of energy impedes economic growth

• Meeting growing energy demand for

agriculture, water, industry & other economic

activities

• High dependence on traditional sources, fossil

fuels, imported energy

• Reducing reliance upon fossil fuels & carbon

intensity

Nexus Challenge: Climate change

• Climate change is a major concern -

alterations in SA - temperature &

precipitation, melting Himalayan

glaciers, and degradation of natural

resources & environment

• Fresh water availability is projected

to decrease

• Increased frequency of extreme

events, drought, floods, variability

in climate, affecting monsoon

patterns

1990-2080

(% change)

World -0.6 to -0.9

Developed

Countries

2.7 to 9.0

Developing

Countries

-3.3 to -7.2

Southeast Asia -2.5 to -7.8

South Asia -18.2 to -22.1

Sub-Saharan Africa -3.9 to -7.5

Latin America 5.2 to 12.5

• 3. Different Aspects of Nexus Approach

Nexus Approach

• Nexus approach is a system-wise approach

• Provide a framework for assessing trade-offs &

synergies, resource use efficiency

• Support minimizing trade-offs, maximizing

synergies, generating additional benefits.

Different aspects of Food, Water, Energy and HKH

Ecosystem Interface

Himalayan Ecosystem Services

Provisioning Regulating Supporting Cultural

• Food, fodder, fuel

• Fresh water

• Minerals

• Raw materials

• Pollination

• Genetic resources

• Climate regulation

• Water regulation

• Biological control

• Disturbance regulation

• Regulating precipitation,

monsoon

• Recharging ground water

• Soil formation

• Erosion control

• Water retention

• Nutrient cycling,

movement

• Traditional

knowledge and

practices of

conservation

• recreation,

• Agro-biodiversity

Food and Agriculture

Water Energy

Enhanced

Food, Water

, Energy

Security

Food, water, Energy: Trade-off &

Synergies

• Competition

– Land - for food, energy, hydropower, ecosystem

– Water – for food, energy

– Energy - for agriculture, water

• Complementarities

– Agriculture contributes to energy-biomass, energy crops, biofuels.

– Better agricultural practices > conserve watersheds > water availability in dry season

– Good water management, e.g., irrigation efficiency > reduce demand for water & energy

– Growing biofuels in unused land > energy security, food security

Food, water, Energy: Trade-off &

Synergies

• Policy linkages– Agric. Policy > water & energy demand

– Energy policy > energy & water demand

– Water policy > irrigation, agric., energy supply

– Energy prices may divert land for energy crops– affect

food security

• Challenge- minimize trade-offs, maximize

synergies

• Subsidizing energy for irrigation > agric production >

overexploitation of groundwater - threatened long-term

agricultural sustainability.

4. Role of Himalayas in

Food, Water, Energy Security in South

Asia

Himalayas – the water tower of Asia

Indo-Gangetic Plain- bread basket of

SA

• World’s largest

irrigated agriculture

in IGBP

• Rice-wheat system

produces the bulk of

the food-grains of

SA

Ground water recharge

•Himalayan watersheds are

natural storage of water

•Himalayas influences the

ground water condition of

IGBP - Recharge deep

aquifers

•IGBP is rich in ground water

– replenish by rainfall, snow

& ice melting & seepage

from Himalayan watershed

Monsoon Regulation

• Himalayas

regulates

micro-

climates, win

d &

monsoon

circulation,

Energy Security

• Himalayas have vital role in

energy security in SA

• Hydropower potential 500 GW (Vaidya, 2012)

• Himalayas can provide access to

green energy

• Of the total hydropower potential in

India, 79% is in the Himalayan

region

• Micro-hydropower

Agriculture & Food Security

• Himalayas play significant role in agriculture & food security in SA through

– Water supply-groundwater recharge

– Sustaining wetland ecosystems

– Maintaining biological diversity, agro-biodiversity

– Himalayan rivers carry soils & nutrients to downstream

– Himalayan river systems harbour richest fish biodiversity

– Connecting Himalayan headwaters with the sea

– Serve as biological corridors for migration of fish & other aquatic species

– Supporting biological diversity & livelihoods.

Challenges of sustaining HKH

Ecosystems

• Degradation of natural resources-

forest, rangeland, soil, watershed, headwaters of

Himalayan rivers

• Environmental degradation- biodiversity

loss, ecosystem degradation, siltation, silting river

beds, declining ground water recharge, drying up

streams,

• Socio-economic impacts- topsoil loss, declining

productivity, water shortages, livelihoods

insecurity, food insecurity, energy insecurity

Conclusions

• Regional interdependencies of the food, water, energy

nexus in the HKH mountain systems & downstream.

• Inter-country coordination & collaboration is critical for long-

term solutions for food, water, and energy security in SA.

• Himalayan ecosystem services are vital to both upstream &

downstream food, water & energy security

• A basin-level approach is required to manage synergies &

trade-offs in food, water, & energy nexus.

• The Himalaya is a regional public good, it is common

interest & shared responsibility to protect the Himalayan

ecosystems

Recommendations

• Strengthen inter-sectoral coordination

• Recognize the role of HKH mountain

ecosystems, upstream-downstream interdependencies

• Optimum development & sustainable use of Himalayan

water for water, energy & food security

• Manage headwaters of the Himalayan rivers- Himalayan

watersheds, forests, rangelands & farmlands.

• Provide incentives to local communities for sustainable use

& management of the headwaters

Recommendations

• Provide alternative energy sources - to reduce black

carbon emissions

• Develop micro & macro hydropower optimally- identify

potential hydropower areas, demarcate fragile zones .

• Framework for regional cooperation for multiple uses

of water for

irrigation, energy, navigation, fisheries, domestic uses

& for benefit-sharing.

• Promote interdisciplinary research & a nexus

knowledge base to support decision-making in

managing trade-offs & promoting synergies

Thank you