Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/R015759/1
NEXus Thinking for sustainable AGricultural development in Andean countries (NEXT-AG)
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Dr D Rey Vicario, Cranfield University, School of Water, Energy and Environment
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr A R Graves, Cranfield University, School of Water, Energy and Environment
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr O Melo, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, UNLISTED
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor X Yan, University of Exeter, Engineering
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr H VITERI SALAZAR, National Polytechnic School (Ecuador), Org Studies & Human Dev (DESODEH)
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor JW Knox, Cranfield University, School of Water, Energy and Environment
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor W Foster, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, UNLISTED
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr E A Zegarra, Group of Analysis for Dev (GRADE), Rural Development
- Grant held at:
- Cranfield University, School of Water, Energy and Environment
- Science Area:
- None
- Overall Classification:
- Unknown
- ENRIs:
- None
- Science Topics:
- Agricultural systems
- Sustainable agriculture
- Economic Development
- Sustainable development
- Agriculture, agricultural policy
- Food security, food supply
- Nat Resources, Env & Rural Dev
- Abstract:
- Food security is consistently seen as one of the key global challenges for the coming decades. Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), currently representing 13% of total food trade, could contribute to solving this challenge given its comparative advantage in terms of water and land availability. Agricultural exports and increasing global food demand represent a big opportunity for the economic development of LAC countries. In the last decades, governments have designed programmes, regulations and institutions aimed at increasing agricultural productivity in countries like Ecuador and Peru. However, there is some evidence of this agricultural expansion already causing some environmental problems (e.g. aquifer overexploitation) and impacts on sectors competing for the same resources (energy). Getting the Water-Energy-Food-Environment (WEFE) nexus right is crucial for LAC countries to ensure the sustainable development of agriculture and the economy without compromising natural resources availability for present and future generations. NEXT-AG's aim is to provide policymakers in those countries with the needed evidence base that allows them to develop new coordinated policies and programmes for increasing resilience and promoting sustainable economic growth in the context of increasing national and global food demand. The project has five main areas: 1) Data collection; 2) Policy and institutional mapping; 3) Modelling and integration; 4) Dissemination and outreach; 5) Project management. The core part of the project is the modelling of the different components of the WEFE nexus, done in collaboration with stakeholders, and their integration, which results will form the needed evidence base to inform future agricultural policies. Specifically, the project team will 1) collect and synthesise evidence on available water and energy resources and their use in agriculture and interaction with other sectors, showing key dependencies and trade-offs, and how the most relevant national policies and development plans might be influencing those links; 2) develop a participatory modelling framework to study the trade-offs between food production and key biophysical and environmental nexus components under contrasting climate, policy and socio-economic scenarios; 3) inform policymaking on how to better integrate nexus thinking into future coordinated policies and development strategies. The outcomes of the project will not only be relevant for Andean countries, but for other developing countries where food exports are one of the key economic activities.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/R015759/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- RCUK
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- RCUK-CONICYT
This grant award has a total value of £419,563
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| DI - Other Costs | Exception - Other Costs | Indirect - Indirect Costs | DA - Investigators | DA - Estate Costs | DI - Staff | Exception - T&S | DI - T&S | DA - Other Directly Allocated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £5,691 | £70,546 | £125,010 | £27,289 | £37,173 | £123,117 | £7,521 | £17,236 | £5,979 |
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