Your Vision

Lives on!

Localizing Water and Food Security

Building resilience in a non-stationary world

Rabi H. Mohtar

(IPCC, 2013)

0,00

0,05

0,10

0,15

0,20

0,25

0,30

0,35

0,40

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

Cro

pla

nd

Ac

re p

er

Ca

pita

Year

Worldwide Cropland per Capita Has Declined

More than 41% in the Last 50 Years

0

50

100

150

200

Rice Wheat Maize Soy Beef Poultry

% In

cre

ase

in P

ric

es

20

00

-20

50

No climate change With climate change

Global Shifts in Risks and Security

WEF Global Risk

2015 Report Top Global Risks of

highest concerns

Resource Interconnectedness

ENERGY +80% IN 2050

FOOD +60% IN 2050

WATER +55% IN 2050

ENERGY +80% IN 2050

WATER +55% IN 2050

FOOD +60% IN 2050

WATER +55% IN 2050

WATER +55% IN 2050

ENERGY +80% IN 2050

(IRENA, 2015)

Water-Energy-Food Nexus

Pricing, environmental quality

Energy cost Energy

Food

Water

Political

Pressure

(Mohtar, 2011)

Interlinkages Hotspots

Trade-offs

IWRM Framework

IWRM and Nexus

IWRM and Nexus

Hotspots

How to Bridge

Water Gap by 2050?

Conservation

Trade

NEW Water

Green Water

Other

–

Total net blue and green virtual water export in

major exporting countries (17 crops). Average over

1998–2002 (Liu et al., 2009)

POPULATION

GROWTH

URBANIZATION

SOIL

is at the heart of

Water and Food Security

Structure

[Organization]

Axis II

The Structural Representative

Elementary Volume (SREV)

+ - -

+ Evolution

Hydro-structural Properties

Axis I

Axis III

SREV

W=Mwater

/Msolids

VS = SREV / M

s

Water content

(kg/kg)

Specific

volume

(dm3/kg)

Continuity equation

[SREV]

Pedostructure, Horizon,Pedon,

Soil appi g u it…

REV

=Vwater

/REV

(m3/m3)

Reference?

Structural mass..

[Braudeau and Mohtar, 2009]

Soil Structure Hierarchical Scaling

Primary

soil mappin

g unit Soil

type Primary soil

mapping

unit

Inter-ped

pore space

Clay pore space

Pedostructure

Primary ped

Primary

peds

Clay

particles

Horizon

Mineral

grains

Geomorphological

unit

CHALLENGE:

Crossing Scales

Challenge: Coupling Soil Bio-geo-chemical and

Physical Models within the Organized Soil System

Spatially Distributed Soil

Maping Unit

Soil Mapping Unit

Three fundamental questions: 1. Typology representing the system?

2. Model used for these couplings?

3. The thermodynamic conditions for

this biophysical system?

1. The Nexus platform builds on the IWRM and

invites other disciplines into water security

debate. It has the potential for achieving

integrated water, energy and food security.

2. There is a need for Quantitative approaches to

study the long term impact of any agro-

environmental practices on soil functioning.

3. Valuing Water and energy resources are vital

to the sustainability of food production system.

4. Green Water Revolution is needed for water

and food security resilience.

Concluding Remarks

Rabi H. Mohtar TEES Endowed Professor,

Biol. Agri. Engr. and Civil Engr. Texas A&M University

Erik F. Braudeau Adj. Prof., Texas A&M

Hon. Scientist, Inst. Research & Devlpt. (IRD), France

Amjad Assi, Ph.D.

Research Associate

Texas A&M University

WEF Nexus Research Team

John Blake

M.Sc. Student

Adnan Degirmencioglu Visiting Scholar, Texas A&M Professor, Agr. Engr. Tech.,

Ege University, Turkey

Sang-Hyun Lee, Ph.D. Visiting Scholar, Texas

A&M Seoul, Korea

Hamid Shafiezadeh Ph.D. Student

Sonja Loy Undergraduate

Mary Schweitzer Program Manager

Martin Keulertz, Ph.D.

Research Associate

Bassel Daher, MSE

Research Associate

Texas A&M University

Tololupe Omotoso Ph.D. Student

Thank You