Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus Technologies in Africa’s Sahel Region and SDGs 2, 6, and 7

Abstract

Improving access to and use of renewable energy (SDG 7), increasing reliable water supply (SDG 6), enabling irrigation and digital technologies in agriculture, and operations for food preservation (SDG 2) are activities focused on the three Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), pillars of this chapter. There is a great potential to expand these SDG ranges through planning and local involvement to contribute positively to as many SDGs as possible through the specific implementation of these activities. Focusing in the Sahel region, where the livelihood of 2 out of 3 people is based on subsistence farming, development of agricultural techniques slowly evolves, and at the same time largely depending on traditional techniques such as rainfed agriculture. Climate change has invoked unprecedented and extreme events that make it challenging for communities to adapt. This chapter is embedded in the context of water-energy-food nexus technologies, contributing to address multiple sustainable development goals with their interconnected synergies and trade-offs with the potential to also restore degraded landscapes and transform millions of lives in the Sahel region. In addition, the chapter goes beyond exposing the water-energy-food challenges in this region, highlighting the experience in implementing agrivoltaics (AV) to respond to water, energy, and food challenges in the Sahel. The research puts forward that while initiatives such as tree planting offer long-term benefits, this needs to be coupled with immediate technical and economic responses in agrivoltaic concepts to benefit from a triple land use that also responds to water-energy-food needs and at the same time contributing to sustainable livelihoods and environment protection.

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