Toward sustainable water resources management: critical assessment on the implementation of integrated water resources management and water–energy–food nexus in Afghanistan

Afghanistan has abundant water resources; however, the current state of affairs is dismal because of the lack of integrated water resources management (IWRM) practices and prolonged war and conflict in the country. Therefore, there is a need for a systematic approach to water management, which can be materialized by integrating IWRM and the water–energy–food (WEF) nexus approach to maintain a critical balance of available water resources and their various uses at the national level. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of Afghanistan's water resource management, including the current state, challenges, opportunities, and way forward. The identified challenges are categorized as social and environmental issues, engineering and technical and regulatory, policy and government role. These challenges are inter-connected and a novel framework toward the implementation of IWRM and the WEF nexus in Afghanistan is proposed. This framework can be used by the relevant stakeholders to prepare a roadmap for sustainable management of water resources. Such integrative approaches will enhance Afghanistan's water, food, and energy security and significantly contribute to its economic development. Moving forward, the Afghanistan government must play a crucial role with regards to the efficient management of the country's water resources in an integrated manner as suggested in this paper. HIGHLIGHTS Critical assessment on Afghanistan's water resources development.; Challenges to Afghanistan's water resources development are inter-connected.; A novel framework and multisectoral approach toward the implementation of IWRM and the WEF nexus in Afghanistan is proposed.; Enhancing IWRM and WEF nexus may eradicate hunger as the agriculture sector is disconnected with water, land, and energy sectors.;