Water-energy-food nexus approaches to facilitate smallholder agricultural technology adoption in Africa

The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus is a useful framework for addressing complex transdisciplinary natural resource and environmental challenges in integrated, innovative ways. This chapter proposes that WEF nexus approaches should place more emphasis and analysis on smallholder farmer trade-offs in agricultural production decision-making processes. Obvious examples include use of irrigation, fertilizers, and solar energy in agricultural production. The argument focuses on agricultural production as a key factor in food security challenges, of which farmer adoption of agricultural-related technologies is crucial. Transdisciplinary analysis of African farming using “WEF nexus thinking” could improve farmer decision support systems and lead to more sustainable land-use management.