For continued action on the water issues facing our world today, creating a strong foundation of understanding is crucial. Despite substantial progress in many areas, human development remains inequitable. The world’s ‘bottom billion,’whoconstitute one-seventh of the globalpopulation, still do not have a secure food supply and have only limited access to clean water, sanitation andmodern sources of energy.

 

Given the basic necessity of water to sustain life, its availability sits at the heart of all the Millennium Development Goals. Against this background, thedecision of the United Nation’s General Assemblyto proclaim 2013 the International Year of Water Cooperationunderlinesthe importanceof collaboration in tackling this and other related challenges. To do so will necessitatea stronger focus on the water-energy-food security nexus, as the three sectors are inextricably linked.

 

As the world population climbstowards eight billion, with escalating demands for basic services and upgraded living standards, the need for more conscious protection of vital resources has gained a new urgency. Despite countless effortsto tackle these issues, the weight continues to be heaviest on the world’s most destitute. For OFID, the focus on ‘sustainable development’ has always been at the core of its efforts, with the implementation of projects that demonstrate the understanding we can no longer tackle resource challenges in isolation for a sustainable future.

 

There is strong evidence that a nexus approach can enhancewater, energy and food security by increasingefficiency, building synergiesand cultivating community ownership across sectors. The nexus can provide solutions to the ongoing challenge of preserving resources amidswiftly increasing demands.

 

Significant change must begin with the way we produce and consume food. It is estimated that agriculturalproduction will have to increase by about 70 percent by2050, while about 50 percent more primary energy must bemade available by 2035. Such increases would havewidespread implications for water and land resources.The combined pressures on these resources mayundermine resilience in the face of economicshocks or crises, which we continue to endure.

 

OFID’s slogan ‘Uniting against Poverty’is centered on the idea of cooperation. The water crisis couldbe an instrument foruniting people and societies. Many of the best water initiatives have resulted from collaboration between development institutions. OFID exemplifies such cooperation by engaging all stakeholders, from governments, international organizations, the private sector and civil society. OFID has witnessed firsthand how cooperation is key to ensuring the sturdiest responses totackling the MDGs, confirming our shared responsibility to those most in need.

 

OFID understands that the availability and effective isolation of water, energy and land varies among its Partner Countries.Because a lack of water inevitably contributes to poverty, changing the nexus dynamics depends largely on a solid cooperation framework. The intensification of collaborative efforts is fundamental for a sustainable development that is well balanced in its economic, social, and environmental approach. Centering on this nexus ensures that each of the three elements are not addressed in isolation.

 

In working within the energy-water-food security nexus, OFID uses all instruments at its disposal. Through its newly established Energy Poverty Grant Program, for example, a number of projects are being carried out toprovide sustainable energy resources for off-grid and on-grid populations, creating alternative solutions forcommunities with different energy access problems. Through its Public Sector window, OFID executes large-scale water resource management operations for agriculture, transport and sanitation by applying innovative cross-sectoral solutions. Furthermore, OFID works closely with the Private Sector by carrying out projects which support smallholder farmers, and by creating sustainable agribusiness schemes which improveconservation capacities and resources.

 

To continue thebattle against inequality will require the kind of globalcooperation that will lock development in a sustainable nexus approach. OFID adopts such cooperation by working with its Partner and Sister institutions. The integrated water-energy-food approach remains the only applicable solution for today’s water crisis. The 2013 International Year of Water Cooperation provides a platform for like-minded organizations to collaborate on projects which link the goals of securing water, energy and food resources. It is only with focusing on sustainable solutions that we can foster the capacity of future generations.

 

 

Suleiman Al-Herbish is director general of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID).