EnvStud 635 – Food and Energy
Content:
The Food-Energy Nexus Programme was launched in 1983 to fill the research gap that existed on the synergistic solutions to food and energy problems. The programme consisted of a two-pronged effort directed towards developing an analytical framework and planning methodology as well as stimulating the sharing of experiences between research teams working in Asia, Africa, and
Course Lecturer: Gerhard Berchtold, PhD
ECTS credits: 2
Coursebook:
Food and Energy - Strategies for Sustainable Development
Ignacy Sachs and Dana Silk
UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY PRESS
© The United
United Nations University Press
The United Nations University
53-70 Jingumae 5-chome, Shibuya-ku
Tokyo 150, Japan
Typeset by Asco Trade Typesetting Limited, Hong Kong
Printed by Permanent Typesetting and Printing Co. Ltd., Hong Kong
Cover design by Tsuneo Taniuchi
FEN-1/UNUP-757
ISBN 92-808-0757-9
United Nations Sales No. E.90.III.A.12
02500 P
This publication is based on the activities of the Food-Energy Nexus Programme (FEN) of the United Nations University (UNU) which took place between 1983 and 1988. As is the custom with the UNU, most of this research was done by researchers associated with various universities or research centres around the world. In this case, considerable work was done by researchers in third world countries in order to promote South-South co-operation in the fields studied.
For most people, the relation between food and energy problems first became evident as a result of the oil crisis in the early 1970s. While immediate attention was given by industrialized countries to ensuring adequate oil supplies to fuel their energy-intensive food systems, long-term concerns were raised about the plight of the rural and urban poor in third world countries with the realization that the high cost of energy and fertilizers would further limit the scope of the Green Revolution.
Beyond the oil price problem loomed the second energy crisis, with even greater social and ecological consequences for more than half of the world's population. In practically all third world countries the problems of getting food to eat began to be overshadowed by the problems of acquiring the energy needed to cook it. Apart from the financial sacrifices, there was a severe strain on time budgets, notably those of women and children, who spend increasingly long hours collecting fuelwood (Cecelski 1987). These problems are exacerbated by the seasonal imbalance in biomass supply and the vicious cycle of greater quantities of dung being used as fuel rather than as fertilizer for maintaining crop production.
Speaking at an intergovernmental meeting of development assistance coordinators in Asia and the Pacific, held in February 1981 in
Rising fuel prices, boosting transportation and agricultural costs, will inevitably push food prices beyond the reach of hundreds of millions of already hungry people. Rising populations, despite the best efforts to reduce fertility rates, will continue to increase the demand for both food and energy. The developing countries will not be able to solve their food problem without solving their energy problem and, without a satisfactory solution to both. their economic growth will be severely constrained. The centrality of the food and energy nexus calls for a comprehensive policy approach. Only through a clear understanding of this food-energy pivot can the situation be turned around.
- Teacher: Gerhard Berchtold
- Teacher: Peter Hodecek