Managing food at urban level through water–energy–food nexus in India: A way towards holistic sustainable development

With rise in population growth and increasing trend towards urbanization, urban spaces have become ‘hot spots’ for intensive resource use including water, energy and food (WEF). Thus, along with food production, food management from consumption side is equally important to address the issue of WEF resource scarcity. An analysis of urban food management in India was carried out through systematic study of different government documents. In-depth content analysis across five sectors, namely water, energy, food, urban and environment, was carried out to find parameters for urban food management strategies having linkage with WEF resources. The study identified six parameters under two categories, namely city region food systems (urban/peri-urban agriculture, green roof technology, urban farmers market) and managing food wastes (reducing food wastes, compost from waste, energy from wastes). The analysis revealed that urban food management in India is focused on managing food wastes through solid waste management strategies (compost and energy production). City region food system and role it plays in optimizing WEF nexus need the attention of policy makers. The study concludes that a paradigm shift is required towards integrated urban WEF policy to attain the goals of sustainable urban development in the developing nations of Global South.