Water–Energy–Food Nexus of Sugarcane Production in Ethiopia Wasihun G. Hailemariam, 1,2 Thapat Silalertruksa, 1,2, * Shabbir H. Gheewala, 1,2 and Napat Jakrawatana 3 1 The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand. 2 Center of Excellence on Energy Technology and Environment, PERDO, Bangkok, Thailand. 3 Faculty of Engineering, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Received: December 23, 2018 Accepted in revised form: April 23, 2019 Abstract Globally, the human population is facing difficulties vis-a `-vis the ability to secure a sustainable supply of water, food, and energy due to the rising number of population, urbanization, globalization, and so on. The Ethiopian government has given emphasis on sugar and ethanol production from sugarcane, which will highly increase water and energy utilization in Ethiopia. The study aims to assess the water–energy–food nexus (WEFN) in the sugarcane production sector of Ethiopia. The set of indicators considering the con- sumption, mass, and economic productivity of water and energy in three different sugarcane producing factories in Ethiopia (Wonji-Shoa, Metehara, and Fincha) has been applied. An integrated indicator, so- called ‘‘water–energy–food nexus index (WEFNI),’’ is calculated to identify and compare the WEFN performance of the study sites. The assessment results helped to understand the water–energy–sugarcane relationships. The best nexus performance was found for Wonji Shoa, which has the highest WEFNI score that is, 0.63, followed by Fincha (0.47) and Metehara (0.45). The nexus assessment showed that the higher energy use in Wonji Shoa due to the modern irrigation technology implemented can be compensated by the reduction of water loss and productivity improvement, which finally lead to the increased WEFNI score. Recommendations such as adoption of modern irrigation system and substitution of fertilizers by filter cake are made for improving the WEFN of sugarcane cultivation. This study helps producers and stakeholders to understand their management performance and take actions to improve their productivity, profit, and re- source management. Keywords: energy; food; nexus; sugarcane; water Introduction P olicy-makers, researchers, and the public in recent decades have understood how the water, energy, and food (WEF) security are strongly interconnected to each other (Bizikova et al., 2014). It is known that increasing pressure on environmental resources may lead to an unbal- anced ecosystem, limited economic growth, and reduced human well-being. For instance, the global population is estimated to grow to 8 billion by 2025, 10 billion by 2050, and 11 billion by 2100, whereas the traded percentage of food produced globally has grown from 15% in 2000 (Endo et al., 2015) to about 20% in 2012 (Alexandratos and Bruinsma, 2012). Food demand is predicted to increase by 60% in 2050 over the 2005/2007 base (WBCSD, 2014). Meanwhile, from the total amount of global freshwater and energy resources, food production has a consumption share of 70% and 30%, respectively (El-Gafy et al., 2017). According to WBCSD (2014), the annual world agricultural production will increase by 77% in developing countries and 24% in developed countries over the base year 2007. A study con- ducted by Bazilian et al. (2011) estimated that most of the global human water utilization (60–80%) is for irrigation, and from this amount of water utilized, 90% is irrigated by hu- mans living in arid areas of developing countries. The global water cycle is changing in response to warming caused by climate change (Carter and Gulati, 2014; Endo et al., 2015). In 2016, over 400 million people were affected by different disasters and 94% of these disasters were related to drought or water shortage (Guppy and Anderson, 2017). The increasing shortage of water will have a major impact on food production. Food production will be indirectly affected by water shortage caused due to water utilization for energy crops production, which will lead to trade-offs with the energy and resources sectors (Gulati et al., 2013). The demands for WEF are estimated to increase by 40%, 50%, and 35%, respectively, by 2030 (Endo et al., 2015). WEF security should be suf- ficiently addressed by society to facilitate sustainable de- velopment (Miara et al., 2014). *Corresponding author: The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, 126 Prachauthit, Bangkok 10140, Thailand. Phone: +66-028-729-014; Fax: +66-028-729-805; E-mail: thapat.sil@kmutt.ac.th ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE Volume 36, Number 7, 2019 ª Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. DOI: 10.1089/ees.2018.0549 798 Downloaded by 54.163.42.124 from www.liebertpub.com at 05/26/20. For personal use only.