Article Type: ReviewFood and water security are one of the most critical subjects in all countries. Water deficiency is turning to a national crisis in Iran, due to climate change and non-optimal management of water resources. Due to the increase in water tensions, the national production will encounter major challenges which will lead to more dependency on importing foodstuff. It is notable that in the future, water deficiency will not be due to water shortage, but could be the consequence of the weakness in the regulations, inappropriate policies, and unplanned use of water resources. Accordingly, water governance in Iran has become a crucial concern in the context of increasing water deficiency, local and border water conflict, and global climate changes. Drying of water basins and the decline of groundwater is the result of the aforementioned regulations. Altogether, in the current situation of Iran, in order to guarantee the production of sustainable food products, considering the worsening state of water shortage, it is necessary to notice good governance, along with the empowerment of indigenous communities and the revival of their knowledge in areas related to the conservation and optimal utilisation of water resources. In this study, while addressing different dimensions of water governance and its role in water and food security, the innovative water governance methods have been described in the field of water security compared to conventional methods of integrated water resources management.

The inadequacy of water resources to meet the needs of food production is a very important issue that will increase in importance in the future. If local renewable water sources (in soil) and water (in rivers, lakes, reservoirs, aquifers) are sufficient to produce a reference food supply (including 3000 kcal of daily requirement, of which animal products include 20 percent) for all residents. If not, we consider a food production unit to have a lack of green-blue water. If it is not enough for all residents, we consider a food production unit to have a lack of green-blue water. The number of people living in food production units affected by green-blue water scarcity has increased from 360 million people in 1905 (21% of the world's population at that time) to 2.2 billion (34%) in 2005. During this period, the lack of green-blue water has spread to large areas and has increased in previous areas. Water security is a concept that is examined in different dimensions and aspects. Four dimensions of these cases were identified, each of which consists of two complementary aspects: direct-indirect, macro-micro, technical-political and peace-conflict. In this study, the indirect role of water on food security on a global scale was investigated using a quantitative spatial approach. Since food security is intertwined with water security in many ways, the role of water scarcity on the disruption of food production and the impact of trade on this interaction was analyzed, and while examining the relationship of social resilience with these issues, the areas that It was identified that they were facing certain challenges in this field. With this work, the concept of water security became systematic and finally related to the issues of vulnerability, resilience and sustainability.

Introduction: Due to climate change that is happening, the security of water and food in Iran has caused many worries, which include small towns like Boroujerd. A comprehensive assessment is necessary as well as the productivity of water resources, because it can provide information for government agencies and the public to develop appropriate patterns. The aim of this study is the use and productivity of water resources in Borujerd city, the aim of this study to utilize appropriately the existing water resources in the city of Boroujerd and it is based on recycling and reusing water resources and reduced harvesting of ground water. So the potential of water saving and return to the cycle has been evaluated, and the results can be used as a potential solution for water shortage in Boroujerd in the future.Materials and Methods: Water, energy, and food security globally are achieved through a communication approach, an approach that integrates governance and management into all over sectors and scales. A communication approach can support the transition to a green economy which aims instead, among other things, the use of resources and policy coherence. Given the increasing communication between sectors in space and time, reducing economic, social and adverse environmental concerns can increase overall resource efficiency, more benefits and provide human rights for water and food. Therefore in a relationship-based approach, common policy and decision making an approach which reduces the composition and creates collaboration among sectors is in need.Currently, the most reliable tool to produce climate scenarios is the paired 3D Atmosphere-Oceans General Circulation Models which called AOGCM in this paper. AOGCM is based on the physical relationships that are presented by mathematical relations. In formulating its AR5 synthesis report, the IPCC has made use of new RCP scenarios of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The IPCC society has used new scenarios as trajectory representatives of various concentrations of greenhouse gases. New scenarios have four key trajectories called RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0 and RCP8.5 that are based on their radiative stimulus in 2100 and different specifications of the technology level, social and economic situation and future policies.LARS-WG is a random weather generator that can be used to simulate atmospheric data at a station under current and future climate conditions. The first version developed in Budapest in 1990 as part of an agricultural risk assessment in Hungary, then reviewed and moderated by Semenov in 1998. This model produces a daily time series of minimum and maximum temperature, rainfall and solar radiation.Results and Discussion: Concerning precipitation variations, it can be concluded that changes in winter months from January to March in RCP2.6 will decrease by 20%. Rainfall variations in the spring are the same and have equal status with the base time. In summer, two scenarios experience a 40% reduction, in fall, RCP2.6 shows a 20% increase in rainfall and the scenario RCP8.5 shows about 10% precipitation reduction. The two scenarios show at least 1.5 degrees Celsius increase and the highest increases are in fall, and in October, a rise of 2.5 degrees has seen. Maximum temperature changes which indicate the temperature increase to 2 degrees at least in both scenarios. In scenario RCP8.5, in winter and fall, the maximum temperature is increased to 2.5 and 3 degrees, respectively. Boroujerdʼs water and sewage company harvests 22 hm3 (MCM) water annually for its population of 240,654 people. If the necessary measures are taken for gray and black water purification, Boroujerdʼs daily city sewage that is 35416/6 m3 daily, can return to the water cycle. The city's total wastewater is 12,750,000 m3 per year and it is possible to prevent underground water harvesting with purification. Rainfall is another important resource never utilized in Boroujerd. The gable roof and those with more than 15 degrees gradient can be used to collect the rainwater in the high rainfall season. The total roofs are 136.13 ha and according to the average rainfall 0/454m, it can be the maximum use of this resource. The annual volume of precipitation for this city is 612612/45m3 which is significant. Supposedly, it could provide 3.6% of fresh water. Also, if the volume of sewage is considered for purification, the amount of available water source reaches 13362612/45m3 which can meet 60/74% of current water demand.Conclusion: Rainwater is not used as a natural resource in Borujerd city and flows into seasonal rivers as runoff. It can be said that harvesting rainwater is an opportunity to reduce water shortage in the future. Rainwater system transferred through the water pipelines and sewage system. It is possible to store rainfall and water remained after snow melts for dry seasons and its surplus can be used to supply. Also due to climate changes and agriculture in Borujerd city, a plan should be provided to reduce the use of water in the summer which is expected to be implemented shortly.

Three vital sources of Water-Energy-Food (WEF) are inextricably interrelated so that may also produce environmental impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions in production/delivery process. Therefore, green-house-gas emission control plays a key role in WEF nexus management. Effective planning and management of limited WEF resources to meet current and future socioeconomic demands for sustainable development is challenging. Nexus management for WEF security necessitates integrated tools that are useful for effective planning and management strategies and policies. Hence, the comprehensive tools should be used for identifying the trade-offs and interactions among various sectors of water, energy, and food. In this study, the nexus in the integrated management of the sources by optimisation method is investigated. Also, a hypothetical optimisation model of the water, energy, and food nexus is examined. This model is applied to quantitatively analyse the interrelationships and trade-offs among system components including energy supply, electricity generation, water supply-demand, food production, and mitigation of environmental impacts. The results demonstrated how these types of analyses could be helpful for decision makers and stakeholders to make cost-effective decisions for optimal WEF management.

Introduction: Implementing Integrated Water Resources Management requires balancing conflicting goals, and the effects on developing countries, which have a poor institutional capacity for change, and suggests a slower pace of integrated water resources management. The growing population of the world, especially in developing countries on one hand, and the need to provide food for this population, on the other hand, have not been the result of overreaching of resources. In this manner, the continuation of an untapped harvest of resources will endanger the sustainability of the region in the near future. Food production is largely depending on the water so that 70 to 80 percent of the water extracted from resources is consumed for irrigation, which is the reason why irrigated cultivation is regarded as inefficient consumers. Understanding how to extract, manage and consume water is the key to solve this problem. On the other hand, the health and safety of communities and agricultural production require energy. Principally in irrigation, it is not possible to extract water without consuming energy. Seeking to establish the goals of the third millennium of the United Nations, researchers have presented a variety of interdisciplinary approaches to achieve a dynamic balance in the food production and consumption of resources, most notably the approach of Water, Energy and Food (WEF) Nexus. Considering the limitation of the resources which is increasing day by day. This approach causes productivity increase by integrating water, energy and food cycles. Managing water, energy and food, despite the inherent systemic differences, are very similar, due to the close relationship between the system perspective and their interaction with each other, a new concept is now called a Nexus approach. This viewpoint describes the interconnected nature and the interplay of the three sectors.Materials and Methods: This research was carried out in Sefid-Rud dam Irrigation and Drainage Network. Sefid-Rud basin is located in the Guilan province, which is benefits from high precipitation, but factors such as dams construction in the upper reaches of the Sefid-Rud dam, the timely inconvenient precipitation and the lack of infrastructure to harvest the runoff, causes water shortages in the area. It is worth mentioning that 50% of the Guilan households have engaged in rice cultivation and more than 70% of the lands are located in the irrigation and drainage network of the Sefid-Rud dam. Hence, reducing rice cultivation in this region will have a great impact on economic and social life. Managing a Nexus approach to provide WEF security requires integrated and analytical approaches that can identify cross-sectoral exchanges, cost-effective planning, policy, and strategy management. Therefore, in this study, WEAP and LEAP software were used for managing water and food resources and managing the energy sector in Sefid-Rud irrigation and drainage network, respectively. Then, the integrated water resources management in the area was addressed by establishing a linkage between these two applications. In the first part of this study, the parameters output such as net water demand, water resources share for each demand node, unmet demand and the coverage regardless of the energy sector were compared.Results and Discussion: The results reveal that the annual water requirement of the Sefid-Rud irrigation and drainage network in 2016 with the NEXUS approach estimated about 8 million cubic meters more than the non-NEXUS approach. Agriculture is the most water-consuming node in the region and there are lots of dependencies on rice cultivation as the most water-consuming crop in the Guilan region. The next step aims to balance the supply and demand, the unmet demand at the agricultural section in the Foomanat, Central and East areas under various management scenarios. These scenarios are including dredging, increase the efficiency of transmission and distribution channels of irrigation and drainage networks, and eliminating unauthorized wells were evaluated.Conclusion: By examining the results of the applied management scenarios mentioned above, the 30% increase in the efficiency of transmission and distribution channels of irrigation and drainage networks in Sefid-Rud has the greatest impact on meeting the demand and reducing the unmet demands of triple areas. As a result of the 30% efficiency improvement scenario, decrease the agricultural demands of the Foomanat area, the central area, and the east (about 29.1, 84.5 and 62.1 million cubic meters, respectively) more than the reference scenario.

Water, food, and energy supply is one of the main issues that the growing world population has been faced, and Iran is not excepted. Following the UN Millennium Development Goals, researchers have presented a variety of interdisciplinary approaches to achieve a dynamic balance between the resource production and consumption. The most important approach is the Water, Energy, and Food (WEF) Nexus. Due to the available resources scarcity which are intensifying on a daily basis, every opportunity should be exploited to balance the current consumption and resources. The Nexus approach enhances productivity by integrating water, energy, and their recycles. This article refers to the strategic relationship between sustainable development with respect to the Nexus of water, food, and energy, as well as identifying the policies of these three sectors, to ensure that they are targeted for optimal use of resources.

The occurrence of natural hazards is always associated with severe damage in the agricultural sector, especially in small-scale farming exploitation units. One of the approaches to deal with these damages is to use the approach of water-energy-food (WEF) nexus in the management decisions of these units. Therefore, the present research was carried out with the aim of analyzing the mechanisms of linking water, energy and food in small-scale farming exploitation units in Hamadan province. The statistical sample of the research was 300 active farmers in small-scale farming exploitation units (below 10 hectares) which were determined by the rule of Cochran formula and sampling was done by cluster method. The main research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire, the content validity of which was confirmed by a panel of agricultural experts and faculty members of the Department of Agricultural Development and Management at the University of Tehran. In addition, the reliability of research’s tool was confirmed through internal consistency procedure calculating Cronbach's alpha and CR (Cumulative Reliability) coefficients (Both above 0.7). Data analysis was carried out using SPSSwin25 and SMART PLS 3 software. The results showed that the overall nexus of water-energy and food from the six dual mechanisms of WEF the Energy or Food has received a more significant effect. According to the findings of the research, in order to strengthen the nexus approach of these vital resources, measures such as providing and introducing coherent and multilateral investment packages; providing training to farmers regarding synergy and unbreakable link of three sources in farm management and paying attention to this approach at different levels of the management system, from policy making and planning are suggested for field-level farm management decisions..

IntroductionWith the growing population of the world, water, food and energy supply will be one of the most important challenges ahead. Agriculture as the most important food producer is not only the consumer of water and energy, but also the most important supplier of energy. As a result, a balance must be struck between harvesting and exploitation of production resources and the amount of agricultural production. Due to the close relationship between water-food-energy systems and also their interaction with each other, a new concept called the “nexus” approach has been proposed which refers to the integrated nature and interactions of water-food-energy planning. This approach has provided suitable options for political decision makers, managers and planners in order to conserve existing resources and achieve sustainable development.Material and MethodsIn this study, we have tried to introduce a mathematical programming model using multi-objective mathematical programming (MOP) technique for water-food-energy nexus that has the ability to process managerial decisions. In this model, in addition to examining the economic aspect, the control of greenhouse gas emissions has also been investigated. The regions of Mashhad, Chenaran and Torqabeh-Shandiz are the most important regions in the study area of Mashhad province in the production of crops. The data required for the study were collected through review of reports and agricultural statistical yearbooks of the year 2020-2021 and interviews with experts in each region and through consulting engineering companies. The hypothetical model under study includes lands covered by crops of Mashhad, Chenaran and Torqabeh-Shandiz. In this model, the water needed to irrigate crops is supplied from surface and groundwater sources. Electricity (electricity consumption) is used to collect and pump of irrigation water, produce food, and supply the domestic and industrial sectors. In the process of generating electricity, production of food, irrigation of crops and consumption of fertilizers and pesticides, greenhouse gases are emitted, especially CO2. In this study, 6 objectives including: maximizing gross profit, maximizing the production of calories from food, minimizing emission of greenhouse gases, minimizing consumption of fertilizers and pesticides, minimizing consumption of irrigation water, and minimizing consumption of energy have been pursued.  Results and DiscussionThe results of the proposed model showed that the rate of change in the level of cultivation area in MOP compared to the current cultivation pattern in Mashhad, Chenaran and Torqabeh-Shandiz decreased by 25.92%, 53.05% and 55.88%, respectively. The level of optimal cultivation for barley in Mashhad in order to maximize net profit objective increased by 16934 hectares (46.71%) and its maximizing caloric production equal to 8484 ha, which has decreased compared to the current pattern (22%). The cultivation area of barley in minimum irrigation water consumption decreased by 10877 hectares (1.11%) and in other minimization objectives it changed to 12892 hectares which increased by 17% in Mashhad region. Wheat, barley, alfalfa, corn, sugar beet, tomato and potato have the highest decrease in cultivation area in the MOP among crops. The total area of optimal cultivation in the net profit maximization model of Mashhad, Chenaran and Torqabeh-Shandiz equal to 48639, 26027 and 75 hectares, which showed an increase of 41.4%, 11.61% and 55.8%, respectively. Furthermore, in the model aimed at minimizing energy, irrigation water, fertilizer, pesticide consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions, the recommended cultivation areas are as follows: 25,475 hectares for energy consumption, 15,954 hectares for irrigation water consumption, and 100 hectares each for fertilizer consumption, pesticide consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions. These figures clearly indicate the need to reduce the cultivation area dedicated to agricultural products that have a significant environmental impact. Consequently, it is crucial to alter the cultivation pattern and adopt a strategy that focuses on producing crops with a lower environmental impact. By implementing this strategy, the objective is to cultivate crops that require less energy, irrigation water, fertilizer, and pesticides, while also minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. This approach aims to mitigate the environmental footprint associated with agricultural practices. By reducing the cultivation area for crops that have high environmental effects and transitioning towards crops that have a lesser impact on the environment, it is possible to achieve a more sustainable and environmentally friendly agricultural system.ConclusionThe purpose of this study was to propose a nonlinear multi-objective mathematical programming model with water-food-energy nexus approach for crops in Mashhad province. In this study, in addition to economic relations, energy and environmental issues (greenhouse gas emissions) were also analyzed. The various components of the water-food-energy nexus, including energy supply planning, water supply and demand, food production, and control of greenhouse gas emissions, were modeled. The results showed that considering the MOP model based on economic and environmental objectives, the area under cultivation of wheat, barley, alfalfa, tomatoes, sugar beets and potatoes has significantly decreased. In other words, in order to achieve the objectives of maximum profit and minimum environmental impact, the area under wheat, barley, tomato, corn should be reduced and the area under cucumber, onion, potato and sugar beet should be increased. According to the results of this study, the following suggestions are presented:- Implementation of the proposed optimal model of water-food-energy nexus allows farmers to simultaneously maintain economic income, environmental considerations, optimal and sustainable consumption of resources (water-food-energy) to select and consider suitable policies. So, it will only be a sustainable policy if it can be built within the combined framework of water, food, energy and the environment.- In order to minimize the emission of greenhouse gases and its damage to the environment, the area under cultivation of agricultural products that have high environmental impact should be reduced, and in contrast to changes in cultivation pattern, the strategy to produce crops with less impact. Therefore, by developing a cropping pattern model, the productivity of the production capacities of the agricultural sector can be maximized and at the same time the damages and destructive consequences of crop production can be reduced.

Introduction: The potential impacts of climate change on water resources and food security are receiving growing attention especially in regions that face growing challenges like water demands for agricultural, domestic and environmental uses. The anticipated climate change are likely to impact water resources (surface water and groundwater) by altering precipitation patterns and change in nature of rainfall regimes. Apart from the effects on water availability, climate change is expected to adversely affect crop productivity, food security and food producers' income. Climate changes could affect the four dimensions of food security; food availability, access, utilization, and stability. Therefore, this study aims at investigating the economic effects of climate change on the agricultural sector (including the yield of crops, water resources, food security and profitability) in Hamadan-Bahar plain. The hypothesis tested in this research is that climate change has negative impacts on the agricultural sector in the study area and it is necessary to present solutions to reduce these effects. Accordingly, the question answered in this study is whether climate changes in the region reduces crop yields, the profitability of the agricultural sector, and aggravate the scarcity of water resources. For this purpose in this study, the effects of climate change in different scenarios on regional cultivation pattern, basic food cultivation pattern, gross profit of farmers, physical and economic productivity of water and food security in Hamedan-Bahar plain have been investigated and then various suggestions to these problems have been presented. Materials and Methods: For this purpose, the physiological, hydrological and meteorological aspects of the problem were integrated into an economic model and the changes in cultivation pattern of the plain were projected in counterfactual climatic scenarios. Accordingly, the outputs of the HadCM3 model under the scenarios of B1 (optimistic) and A2 (pessimistic) were utilized for the fourth report; additionally, the outputs of the ensemble model under RCP 2.6 (optimistic) and RCP 8.5 (pessimistic) scenarios were used for the fifth report of IPCC. Then, the variables of rainfall and temperature for the horizon of 2070 were predicted under scenarios B1, A2, RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 using the Lars-WG model. In this regard, the yield response functions of the products with respect to climatic parameters by the Generalized Maximum Entropy method (GME) were estimated and the elasticity of the yield of the products with regard to temperature and rainfall were calculated. Then products yield changes on the 2070 horizon under different climate change scenarios were predicted and by including it in a positive mathematical programming (PMP), the impact of different climate change scenarios on regional cultivation pattern, basic food cultivation pattern, gross profit of farmers, physical and economic productivity of water and food security were examined. To estimate the yield response regression model and predict climate changes by LARS_WG model, the data on the period 1982-1982 were used. Also the data and information of farmers were obtained using a two-stage cluster sampling method in 2018 (baseline). Results and Discussion: The results indicate an increase in temperature, a decrease in precipitation, a decrease in the supply of water resources, and consequently a decrease in the yield of most basic food products and an increase in the yield of some vegetable and summer crops were anticipated in all scenarios. The results also showed that the occurrence of the mentioned consequences has negative effects on the total production of crops, the amount of production of basic food products and the gross profit of farmers in the region. And in this regard, in the most pessimistic scenario on the horizon of 2070, it will impose a loss of 490 billion rials on farmers. The increase in the physical and economic efficiency of water in different scenarios shows that water is becoming more valuable due to the decrease in the quantity of water due to climate change. Therefore the economic value of water would increase in the future decades in Hamadan-Bahar plain, which itself represents the severity of water scarcity in the agricultural sector. Conclusion: The occurrence of climate change by affecting water resources, crop yields, cultivated area, food production and ultimately farmers' incomes, in addition to imposing economic and environmental losses, would affect various aspects of food security such as food availability, access, stability and utilization. Accordingly, in order to maintain and improve the yield of crops and reduce the possible losses imposed on income and food security of the region, it is vital to adopt appropriate strategies compatible with climate change, including the use of new irrigation technologies, deficit irrigation methods and to reform the cultivation pattern by selecting products with higher economic value in order that increase water productivity. Finally improving management of water resources and farmers' income at the plant, farm and region levels, is crucial.

IntroductionIn recent years, climate change and global warming, by reducing rainfall and higher temperature, have increased the frequency and severity of drought and water scarcity in various parts of the world, including Iran. The study of the annual discharge of rivers located in Qarahsu basin (Golestan province) showed that this basin has also faced drought in recent years and since most of the water required of Miankaleh wetland is supplied from Qarahsu River, so Water abstraction for agricultural, urban and industrial uses will have a major impact on the ecosystem of Miankaleh wetland. Given that agriculture is the main economic activity in the Golestan province and also it is the largest consumer of water and food security providers in the region Therefore, reducing irrigation water consumption can provide the extra water needed to protect the wetland. In order to sustainable supply water required of Miankaleh wetland in Gorgan Gulf, and preventing to dry the wetland, and using area's capacity in food security, attending to water resources management is very important in Qarehsou river Basin and Gorgan Gulf (Miankaleh wetland).Materials and MethodsIn this paper, a hydro-economic river basin model was used to water optimal allocation of Qarehsou River among water users in the basin (including irrigation activities, urban, industrial, and fishery uses, and environment) and protecting the Miankaleh wetland ecosystem (Gorgan Gulf). The empirical river basin model includes three reduce forms of hydrological components, regional optimization components, and environmental components and can make the integrated linkage between hydrologic, economic, institutional, and environmental components. This model also simulates demand nodes' behavior under different drought scenarios. The linkage between the three model components allows a rigorous evaluation of the quantitative impacts of drought on water availability in the river basin under study, the effects on the users’ behaviors, and the private and social-economic benefits and costs of water use. The hydrological model of the river basin is based on the principles of water mass balance, which determine the volume of water availability in the different river reaches. This water available can be used for economic activities after taking into account the environmental restrictions for economic activities. In the economic component, the economic benefits of water demand are maximized by using water demand functions subject to technical and resource constraints. In the environmental component, we maximize the benefits that environmental characteristics provide for society and compare them with the benefits of other applications.Results and DiscussionThe results showed, in the current condition, the allocation and consumption of water have not been optimal between nodes in the Qarehsou river basin. In the normal water supply scenario, also total water sources decreased to protect Miankaleh wetland in suitable condition, but the area under cultivation of the most crops increases, which increases water resources consumption in this sector, and finally, the net benefits of the agriculture sector has grown positively. Also, by allocating 18 million cubic meters of water to the wetland, because of optimal water allocation, urban water consumption, and annual gross benefit increase, too. In drought conditions, because of water shortage due to climate change and reduction headwater and surface flows to preserve the wetland, water consumption reduced by all nodes, especially irrigation node. Agricultures can prevent from reducing excessive of their income by changing in cultivation pattern, deficit planting crops with less water, etc. Under drought conditions and water scarcity, although the amount of water available is reduced to all applicant nodes compared to baseline conditions, but it improves the economic benefits of stakeholders, especially the environment sector.Increasing groundwater extraction and decreasing surface water (due to drought and wetland water supply from headwater flow), although Qarehsou river basin has faced water scarcity problem, due to the optimal distribution of water between water demand nodes based on the economic-hydrological model used by changing the cultivation pattern and the use of drought-tolerant crops, the amount of water entering the Miankaleh wetland has increased in normal and drought scenarios and as a result has increased the gross environmental benefits of Qarehsou basin. Therefore, it is recommended to protect the Miankaleh wetland and increase its ecological function, reduce the water allocated value to irrigation sector, and to increase the farmers economy efficiency, optimal cultivation pattern, and applying deficit irrigation strategies promote by agricultural jihad experts in province, and in drought conditions is used suitable strategies for drought to improve water resources management.