1.  What’s your current research focus at LSHTM, and what drew you to this field?

My research is on the links and dependencies between water, energy, food, environmental and health systems, also known as the WEF+ nexus. I develop frameworks and analytical models to understand more about how these systems interact with each other, and with climate change. I also translate evidence into practical solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation, and evaluate how their effects support the global sustainable development agenda. 

I am naturally an integrator, and enjoy working with different people to find solutions. A significant part of my work includes capacity strengthening at the individual, community and institutional levels in transdisciplinary research for development approaches that address water, environment, food and health challenges.

Most of my work is in Africa, a continent which faces complex challenges, such as climate change, rising water scarcity, environmental degradation, population increase, growing inequality and poverty, rising food insecurity and public health issues. Addressing these systemic challenges requires innovative approaches to inform locally driven and integrated actions. 

2.  How is climate change affecting water availability, food security and public health, particularly in vulnerable regions?

Climate change has fundamentally altered water, energy, food and ecological securities, with significant implications for public health. For example, many places in Africa are experiencing increasing water scarcity and drought, leading to difficulties producing crops and keeping livestock. It’s getting harder to feed your family and earn extra income from agriculture.

In countries such as Zambia and Zimbabwe that rely on hydropower, persistent droughts have reduced power generation, leading to blackouts, making it difficult to store food and creating food waste. Lack of energy and access to clean water further risks food safety, and regular cholera outbreaks occur. The same areas are also experiencing more floods, with equally devastating impacts on water and food nutrition and security, and public health. Droughts and floods often occur back-to-back, with significant implications for waterborne and vector-borne diseases.

Increasing temperatures due to global warming lead to faster evaporation rates and water scarcity in vulnerable regions, exacerbating risks for water- and vector-borne diseases, as well as heat health risks for both humans and livestock. Often, all of these hazards are experienced in the same places by the same people. This repeated exposure and emotional and physical trauma, which often goes unnoticed, is another public health concern that we ought to pay more attention to.

3.  What are the biggest challenges facing decision makers in balancing the different systems you work on: water, food, energy, environment and health?

The key challenge is balancing developmental goals with social, economic, human, and environmental health considerations. Often, when decision makers overemphasise economic development goals to address social vulnerabilities, they create trade-offs that undermine sustainable development. This happens because we are still very comfortable and entrenched within our siloes. It is far easier to plan, implement, monitor and assess decisions within siloes. However, the nature of the interlinked challenges related to water, food, energy and health requires a shift towards more integrated approaches such as the WEF+ nexus. Although there is growing understanding of the benefits and need for more integrated approaches, we are not deploying them quickly and responsibly enough to unlock sustainable development.

4.  What role does governance and policy play in ensuring sustainable and equitable access to water, and how can research like yours contribute to this?

In the case of the WEF+ nexus approach, governance and policy can facilitate collaboration and coordination across sectors to address interconnected challenges. However, for this to happen, we need timely evidence to inform policies that can be replicated in different contexts. My research, which I conduct with government stakeholders, helps to provide and translate evidence for decision-makers, and develop coherent practical solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation, while evaluating how their effects support the achievement of local, national, regional and global goals.

We need to think beyond water and understand that water is intrinsically linked to other systems. The conversations about sustainable water management need to shift from being input and resource-centric, i.e. primarily focused on managing the resource itself, towards social, economic, human and environmental outcomes. We need to focus the discussion on people and the planet. In this regard, the WEF+ nexus approach and planetary health provide frameworks to achieve sustainable and equitable water management by linking it with other equally important goals.

5.  In light of World Water Day, what key message would you like policymakers, researchers and the public to take away?

While I am fundamentally a water scientist, I am also a knowledge broker and understand the value of collaboration in addressing complex global challenges. As we celebrate World Water Day, I think we should move away from emphasising the centrality of water, as this inadvertently creates a silo. We should focus on how water can accelerate sustainable development, not on its own but working equally alongside other sectors. In the mantra of the Sustainable Development Agenda to leave no one behind, our call to action should be to leave no sector behind.

6.  What can be done to keep these discussions alive year-round?

World Days are important for shining the spotlight on certain topics, but it’s important to maintain momentum throughout the rest of the year. The issues we discuss profoundly affect people every day. We owe it to the vulnerable people whose livelihoods and health are being upended by climate change. We need to use World Water Day to outline an agenda for globally important discussions that can be sustained and progressed through the year, leading to COP30 and beyond. Let World Water Day galvanise us to think beyond just water - we need to work across different systems to build sustainable futures for all.