18 Developing a Framework for the Water-Energy …
409
framework is particularly relevant when considering the recent proposed policy shift
on land expropriation, which if adopted will significantly influence land utilization.
Currently, various government agencies generally approach resource management in
isolation, without accounting for the usage of water, energy, and land by other sectors.
This is a major challenge in South African policymaking, especially considering the
country’s limited water availability, threats posed by both climate variability and
change across climate-sensitive sectors, the scarcity of high-potential arable land, and
the country’s reliance on fossil fuel-based energy generation. Furthermore, climate
change is expected to further compromise the availability of resources in South
Africa, through changes to ecosystem services, rainfall frequency and distribution,
and natural disasters.
South Africa is a water-scarce country with approximately 13% arable land, much
of which is in regions that have a high concentration of mineral resources, e.g., coal.
About 30% of South Africa’s crops are grown on irrigated land, accounting for
approximately 75% of total national agricultural water use (Ololade et al. 2017).
From 1985 to 2008, South Africa was a net food exporter (Ololade et al. 2017).
However, this has changed in recent years due to a reduction in agricultural yields and
an increase in population (Ololade et al. 2017), on top of the country’s heavy reliance
on non-renewable energy resources (Ololade et al. 2017). Due to projected population
growth and economic development, multiple countries within the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) will be water-stressed by 2040, with South Africa
experiencing a high ratio of water withdrawals to supply (World Resources Institute, 2015). It is therefore necessary to operationalize an inter-sectoral framework to
understand dynamics among water, energy, and food systems for sustainable resource
management and regional development.
This chapter seeks to develop a draft framework for implementing the WEF nexus
for South Africa , linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and emphasizing SDGs 2, 6, and 7. We also propose indices and/or metrics as well as models
that can be used to evaluate WEF nexus performance.
1.1 Current Status of the WEF Nexus in South Africa
Achieving water, energy, and food security is essential to South Africa’s developmental agenda and aspirations to address existing inequalities and improving the
quality of life for all. Approaches to WEF security must therefore be integrated with
South Africa’s primary focus on employment, poverty alleviation, equality, and the
elimination of corruption. Responsibility for tackling these challenges is shared by
the government at the national, provincial, and local levels. Progress toward achieving
the SDGs consequently also depends on breaking down the “silo” mentality between
government sectors. Despite the relative sophistication and success of South Africa in
developing sound public policy, it is still too often compartmentalized by sector. This
409
framework is particularly relevant when considering the recent proposed policy shift
on land expropriation, which if adopted will significantly influence land utilization.
Currently, various government agencies generally approach resource management in
isolation, without accounting for the usage of water, energy, and land by other sectors.
This is a major challenge in South African policymaking, especially considering the
country’s limited water availability, threats posed by both climate variability and
change across climate-sensitive sectors, the scarcity of high-potential arable land, and
the country’s reliance on fossil fuel-based energy generation. Furthermore, climate
change is expected to further compromise the availability of resources in South
Africa, through changes to ecosystem services, rainfall frequency and distribution,
and natural disasters.
South Africa is a water-scarce country with approximately 13% arable land, much
of which is in regions that have a high concentration of mineral resources, e.g., coal.
About 30% of South Africa’s crops are grown on irrigated land, accounting for
approximately 75% of total national agricultural water use (Ololade et al. 2017).
From 1985 to 2008, South Africa was a net food exporter (Ololade et al. 2017).
However, this has changed in recent years due to a reduction in agricultural yields and
an increase in population (Ololade et al. 2017), on top of the country’s heavy reliance
on non-renewable energy resources (Ololade et al. 2017). Due to projected population
growth and economic development, multiple countries within the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) will be water-stressed by 2040, with South Africa
experiencing a high ratio of water withdrawals to supply (World Resources Institute, 2015). It is therefore necessary to operationalize an inter-sectoral framework to
understand dynamics among water, energy, and food systems for sustainable resource
management and regional development.
This chapter seeks to develop a draft framework for implementing the WEF nexus
for South Africa , linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and emphasizing SDGs 2, 6, and 7. We also propose indices and/or metrics as well as models
that can be used to evaluate WEF nexus performance.
1.1 Current Status of the WEF Nexus in South Africa
Achieving water, energy, and food security is essential to South Africa’s developmental agenda and aspirations to address existing inequalities and improving the
quality of life for all. Approaches to WEF security must therefore be integrated with
South Africa’s primary focus on employment, poverty alleviation, equality, and the
elimination of corruption. Responsibility for tackling these challenges is shared by
the government at the national, provincial, and local levels. Progress toward achieving
the SDGs consequently also depends on breaking down the “silo” mentality between
government sectors. Despite the relative sophistication and success of South Africa in
developing sound public policy, it is still too often compartmentalized by sector. This