An impact analysis of population growth on energy-water-food-land nexus for ecological sustainable development in Rwanda

While agricultural activities are a major drain on water resources in Rwanda, its high population growth continually escalates energy-water-food-land nexus pressures. With 13.03 million inhabitants on a 26,336 km(2) area which translates to be 495 inhabitants per km(2), Rwanda has the second-highest population density in Africa because of its high annual population growth rate of 2.95%. Access to clean drinking water, energy, and food to meet the demographic needs in Rwanda are fundamental, but this is unlikely to be the case by 2050 due to the anticipated land scarcity. Land stress is endangering energy, water, and food security, and this works against ecological sustainable development. This research analyzed the ecological balance of human activities in Rwanda and how policymakers have increasingly emphasized on energy-water-food nexus sectors separately without integrating land usage and population growth which poses an even more critical situation if left unattended to. The research study recommends the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) method as being appropriate to support the transition toward a sustainable economy because it is used to optimize resources, generate focused decisions, actions, investments, and policies that would combat nexus pressures and promote ecological sustainable development.