Opportunities for a sustainable food-energy-water future in the Blue Nile Mountains of Ethiopia

埃塞俄比亚青尼罗山脉可持续食品-能源-水未来的机遇

• 批准号: 314862397
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Detlef Müller-Mahn
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Geographisches Institut
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2015-12-31 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/314862397?language=en
• 关键词: Opportunities; sustainable; food; energy; water

The mountains of Ethiopia are often called the water tower of Africa, giving rise to major transboundary rivers. Rapid hydropower development in these mountains is quickly transforming them into the power plant of Africa as well. For local people, however, they are first and foremost a land of small farms, engaged primarily in subsistence agriculture. Under changing climate, rapid national economic growth, and steadily increasing population and land pressures, these mountains and their inhabitants have become the focal point of a multi-scale food-energy-water nexus with significant implications across East Africa. The research proposed here is designed to produce a social-ecological systems analysis of adaptation options and risk profiles for the Ethiopian Blue Nile Mountains. Our core research objective is to identify options to address emerging food-energy-water pressures in this rapidly changing tropical mountain system. To do this, we will engage stakeholders at local, regional, and national level to define system components and dynamics, identify favored adaptation strategies, and develop scenarios of probable and of possible futures under externally forced and locally driven change. The research team includes expertise in social-ecological systems analysis, social resilience strategies, East African ecology and agronomy, hydropower development, agricultural economics, and the climate and hydrology of the Ethiopian highlands. Stakeholders include local community organizations, river basin authorities, and national development agencies, among others. The coupled, multi-scale nature of the nexus requires that all project team members and diverse stakeholders participate throughout the research process. We anticipate that this approach will yield new insights on adaptation strategies in tropical mountain environments, and that the stakeholder-informed social-ecological systems framework developed here can be readily transferred to other mountain regions coping with climate change.

埃塞俄比亚的山脉通常被称为非洲的水塔，是主要跨界河流的源头。这些山区的快速水电开发正迅速将它们变成非洲的发电厂。然而，对当地人来说，他们首先是小农场的土地，主要从事自给农业。在气候变化、国家经济快速增长、人口和土地压力稳步增加的情况下，这些山脉及其居民已成为多尺度食物-能源-水关系的焦点，对整个东非具有重要影响。这里提出的研究旨在对埃塞俄比亚青尼罗山脉的适应选择和风险概况进行社会生态系统分析。我们的核心研究目标是确定在这个快速变化的热带山地系统中解决新出现的食物-能源-水压力的选择。为此，我们将与地方、区域和国家层面的利益相关者合作，定义系统组成部分和动态，确定有利的适应策略，并在外部强迫和地方驱动的变化下制定可能的和可能的未来情景。该研究团队包括社会生态系统分析、社会恢复战略、东非生态和农学、水电开发、农业经济学以及埃塞俄比亚高地的气候和水文方面的专业知识。利益攸关方包括地方社区组织、流域管理部门和国家发展机构等。耦合的、多尺度的关系要求所有项目团队成员和不同的利益相关者参与整个研究过程。我们预计，这种方法将对热带山区环境的适应策略产生新的见解，并且这里开发的利益相关者信息社会生态系统框架可以很容易地转移到应对气候变化的其他山区。