Towards sustainable land management in small islands: A Water-Energy-Food nexus approach

The environmental and multi-sectoral challenges faced by small islands requires consideration of sustainability issues. The sustainability challenges in these regions involve in particular the achievement of a greater autonomy through the development of local resources. This is a complex system that encompasses interconnections between the resources available and the land use. In this article we focus on the study of the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus, and propose an integrated and systemic approach to do so. Our contribution consists in studying food system sustainability of small islands by exploring the reciprocal influences between the valorization of local WEF resources and land use competition for various integrated WEF scenarios. Additionally, we integrate dietary behaviors and demonstrate their close interlinking with land use practices, and thus their impact on the potential for transitioning towards a more sustainable food system. To achieve this, we present a generic combined Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and robust optimization model. This model is then applied to Reunion island using collected real data. Our approach aims to assist local policymakers, at the island scale, by constructing insightful scenarios to facilitate informed decision-making. Our results highlight the need to save land space when developing local resources through effective land use management policies combined with a shift in food practices. This shift would imply in particular, to convert some of the sugarcane areas into subsistence farming. Furthermore, the results emphasize the importance of transitioning consumption practices under various integrated WEF scenarios, showcasing our model as an insightful decision-support tool.