Water - Energy - Food Nexus Narratives and Resource Securities

Tafadzwa Mabhaudhi is an Honorary Associate Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Director for the Centre for Transformative Agricultural and Food Systems, South Africa. His primary goal is to work on research and development that is dynamic, transformative, informs policy, and achieves real life impacts within poor communities. His research focus includes crop water use and crop modelling to multi- and transdisciplinary research covering food systems, global change, the water-energy-food nexus and the science-policy-practice interface. He is linked to several policy making initiatives in South Africa and southern Africa where he serves on expert panels informing policy. For this, in 2019 he was awarded with the Water Research Commission's award for Informing Policy and Decision making. He is also a member of the editorial board for Frontiers in Climate. Aidan Senzanje is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. His research focuses on irrigation technology, irrigation and agricultural water management and the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus. With over 60 journal articles, 23 book chapters, and four edited volumes, he has made significant contributions to the field. Previously, he served as a Visiting Scientist at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in Pretoria, South Africa. His practical experience includes undertaking technical consultancies in irrigation engineering, agricultural water management, project evaluation and environmental management systems. He was involved in the planning, development and launching of new academic programmes in Land and Water Management for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and the BSc Agricultural Engineering degree at the University of Zimbabwe.

Albert T Modi is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for the College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He received his Masters from the then University of Natal in the early 1990s, after completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Fort Hare, and was a Fulbright Scholar at Ohio State University for his PhD. His primary research focus as an academic has been on the areas of agronomy and sustainable agriculture. He is a champion of sustainable agriculture, and of the value of indigenous knowledge in informing scientific research. In recognition of his mentorship skills, he also received a Water Research Commission Award for Human Capital Development in Water and Science Studies. He is on the editorial board of the South African Journal of Plant and Soil. Graham Jewitt joined IHE Delft Institute for Water Education as Professor of Hydrology in 2019. Prior to this he was Director of the Centre for Water Resources Research and Umgeni Water Chair of Water Resources Research at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Over the past twenty years, he has led several water and earth system science related initiatives, both in South Africa and abroad, with the relationship between land and water an overarching research thrust. He is on the editorial board of the journals Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS) and Water SA, is a member of the management board of WaterNet, and is active in several other national and international fora. Recent work has been focused on the effective use of science to better inform land and water resources policy development, especially in developing countries, and developing tools to support the effective implementation of these. Festo Massawe is Professor of Crop Science and Director of University of Nottingham's Future Food Beacon of Excellence in Malaysia. He is also the former Head of the School of Biosciences at the University of Nottingham. He is the co-Director of CFF-UNMC Doctoral Training Partnership (CFF-UNMC DTP) and a member of the University of Nottingham Senate. He received his PhD from the University of Nottingham, UK in 2001, and thereafter worked as a Research Fellow in the School of Biosciences at the University of Nottingham, UK for four years. In this role, he coordinated research activities involving five countries (Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, Germany and UK). Since joining UNM in 2006, Prof Massawe has continued to pursue international agricultural research and capacity development activities to fulfill his mission of achieving sustainable development through sustainable food production and provision of relevant and quality education.