Using Media Framing to Explore the Food-Energy-Water Nexus: The Case of the Rio Negro Basin in Uruguay

Abstract

Addressing the call for qualitative and empirical approaches to the food, energy, and water (FEW) nexus studies, this research examined newspapers to explore public discussion framing the understanding of the FEW systems interconnections. We conducted a media content analysis on news articles in Spanish between January 2015 and December 2020 for the main river basin in Uruguay to explore the impacts of increased agriculture productivity on the FEW nexus interactions. As described in the media, we summarized problems, solutions, and calls for action when describing sectoral interdependencies. Results show that the dominant public discussions were event-driven and focused on water quality and climate variability. For instance, the water-energy nexus spiked when a drought impacted hydropower generation, and the food-water nexus spiked due to cyanobacteria blooms, creating impacts beyond the FEW sectors, such as tourism. We concluded by highlighting how FEW nexus goals may enhance the discussion and solutions framing.