Synthesis and In-Depth Analysis of Water, Energy and Food Issues in Rio+20 National Reports and Addressing Capacity Building for Integrated Water – Energy – Food Security Framework in National Development Planning

The Sustainable Development Conference, commonly known as the Rio 20+ Summit, took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2012. The United Nations, along with United Nations-Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) helped prepare sustainable development reports for 60 countries. As an outcome of this conference, these reports identified water, food and energy security as areas of top priority for sustainable development planning, with a need to understand their nexus. This research delves into these issues of integrated energy, water and food security for the countries of Ethiopia, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Cambodia. These four countries have agricultural-based economies are extremely vulnerable to climate variability and resulting disruptions in energy, food and water availability. Rising electricity and food prices combined with the volatile nature of water resources in an environment of increasing climate change puts immense pressure on developing and least developed countries to find sustainable solutions to meet the countries’ developmental and consumption needs. This report analyzes the possibility of building capacity in these countries through integrated improvement of food, water and energy sector planning with recommendations and incentives for integrated management.