Optimal allocation of the food, energy and water (FEW) resources is of emergent concern owing to depleting supply of the natural resources. Increasing demand for the FEW resources is attributable to growing population, migration, economic development, technological advancements and climate change. The FEW nexus (FEW-N) is an intricate system that requires robust quantitative decision-making tools to investigate the links between the various system components and sustainability. This study proposes a meta-model-based FEW-N system for addressing the issue of natural resource allocation for food and energy security. It incorporated an integrated model consisting of the Techno-Economic and Input/Output models in an Optimisation framework with maximum economic benefit as its objective function. The COINOR Branch and Cut (CBC) and CPLEX solvers in the Advanced Interactive Multidimensional Modelling System (AIMMs) were used to formulate and solve the optimisation problems. To validate the developed framework, the scenario analysis was performed on three cases in South Africa. First, it was found that using FEW resources for food production in dryland open fields, undercover greenhouses, and irrigated open fields was more profitable than for production of electrical energy from bioenergy, solar/wind-based hybrid renewable energy, and hydropower production systems. Second, the revenue of the sub-sector determined the percentage use of the FEW resources and the percentage contribution of technology options to food and energy security. Third, open fields, greenhouses, and irrigated open fields contributed significantly to food security. The holistic framework developed provided enhanced understanding of the FEW-N system. Resource security has significantly improved due to the ability of various technologies in each subsector to meet the food and energy demands of the specific population. Besides providing scientific support for national decisions regarding food, energy, and water policy, the proposed framework will also contribute to sustainable development at the subnational level.

In recent years, a greater level of integration of the world economy and an opening of national markets to trade has impacted virtually all areas of society. The process of globalization has the potential to generate long-term benefits for developing countries, including enhanced technology and knowledge transfers and new fina- ing options supporting agricultural and economic development. However, risks of political and economic instability, increased inequality, and losses in agricultural income and production for countries that subsidize their agricultural and other e- nomic sectors threaten to offset potential benefits. Globalization can also have a profound impact on the water sector – in terms of allocation and use of water – and thus on food security as well. Other global change processes, particularly climate change, are also likely to have far-reaching impacts on water and food security, and societies around the world. To discuss these issues in-depth, the International Food Policy Research Institute, the Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico, and the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), Costa Rica, held a three-day International Conference on “Globalization and Trade: Implications for Water and Food Security,” at CATIE’s Turrialba, Costa Rica, headquarters under the auspices of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food in 2005. The workshop set out to identify the major risks and emerging issues facing developing countries related to global economic and environmental change impacts on water and food security.

van Koppen Barbara, 'Empowering women to achieve food security: Water rights', , IFPRI, 2001 | IFPRI1; Gender; 2020

The increasing global demand for natural rubber (100% increase in the last 15 years) is for most part met by Malaysia and Indonesia, and – to a lesser extent – other countries in South-East Asia and Africa. The consequent expansion of rubber plantation has often occurred at the expenses of agricultural land for staple crops, particularly in South-East Asia, where 90% of the land suitable for agriculture is already under cultivation. Here we investigate the extent to which the ongoing increase in rubber production is competing with the food system and affecting the livelihoods of rural communities living in the production areas and their appropriation of natural resources, such as water. We also investigate to what extent the expansion of rubber plantations is taking place through large scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) and evaluate the impacts on rural communities. Our results show how rubber production needs more than 10 million ha of fertile land and up to 136–149 × 10⁹ m³ y⁻¹ of freshwater (125 × 10⁹ m³ y⁻¹ of green water and 11–24 × 10⁹ m³ y⁻¹ of blue water). These resources would be sufficient to produce enough food to significantly reduce malnourishment in Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam if replaced by rice production. Overall, natural rubber production has important environmental, social, and economic impacts. Indeed, despite their ability to bring employment and increase the average income of economically disadvantaged areas, rubber plantations may threaten the local water and food security and induce a loss of rural livelihoods – particularly when the new plantations result from LSLAs that displace semi-subsistence forms of production – thereby forcing the local populations to depend on global food markets.

The resolution adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 25 September 2015 is symptomatic of the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus. It postulates goals and related targets for 2030 that include (1) End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture (SDG2); (2) Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all (SDG6); and (3) Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all (SDG7). There will be tradeoffs between achieving these goals particularly in the wake of changing consumption patterns and rising demands from a growing population expected to reach more than nine billion by 2050. This paper uses global economic analysis tools to assess the impacts of long-term changes in fossil fuel prices, for example, as a result of a carbon tax under the UNFCCC or in response to new, large findings of fossil energy sources, on water and food outcomes. We find that a fossil fuel tax would not adversely affect food security and could be a boon to global food security if it reduces adverse climate change impacts.

S. Marjanizadeh, Charlotte de Fraiture, W. Loiskandl, 'Food and water scenarios for the Karkheh River Basin, Iran', 2014 | Increasing population and income and a wheat self-sufficiency policy are already stressing Iran's strategic Karkeh River Basin. Examining three scenarios to the year 2025, the authors of this study find: (1) business as usual leads to an aggravation of groundwater overdraft and may jeopardize the ecosystem services provided by the Hawr Al Azim marsh area; (2) giving priority to environmental flow requirements and restoring groundwater tables leads to a shortfall in wheat production; but (3) reducing agricultural water demand could maintain a certain level of food production. Appropriate policy could minimize the tradeoffs between food self-sufficiency, sustainable water use and farmers' income

The resolution adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 25 September 2015 is symptomatic of the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus. It postulates goals and related targets for 2030 that include (1) End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture (SDG2); (2) Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all (SDG6); and (3) Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all (SDG7). There will be tradeoffs between achieving these goals particularly in the wake of changing consumption patterns and rising demands from a growing population expected to reach more than nine billion by 2050. This paper uses global economic analysis tools to assess the impacts of long-term changes in fossil fuel prices, for example, as a result of a carbon tax under the UNFCCC or in response to new, large findings of fossil energy sources, on water and food outcomes. We find that a fossil fuel tax would not adversely affect food security and could be a boon to global food security if it reduces adverse climate change impacts.

The water–climate-food security nexus is uniquely vulnerable in Central Asia, a region replete with transboundary water conflicts, shortages in land and water resources and high sensitivity to climate change. Using a water balance for the Amu Darya River Basin, we present a synthetic evaluation of future water use, crop yields, land and water productivities for the period 2016 to 2055 in Ahal, Dashoguz, Lebap, and Mary provinces in Turkmenistan. Modeled fut socio-economic scenarios include food security and diet change (FSD), export-oriented sustainable adaptation (ESA) and business as usual (BAU). Results show that water requirements and water deficits during growing seasons will exhibit a decreasing trend from 2016 to 2055 in most provinces under all three scenarios. Crop yields and land and water productivities will likely increase in the four provinces under both the FSD and ESA scenarios. Mary province had the highest mean income and losses of irrigated agriculture, with an annual average value of about 7 × 108 USD/year and 1.5 × 103 USD/year, respectively. Ahral province showed the largest annual mean land and irrigation water productivities for all three scenarios, up to about 800 USD/ha/year and 0.40 USD/m3/year respectively. Results obtained from this study provide tools to assist resource managers to identify vulnerabilities in the nexus of water, land and climate to ensure food security, water management, and sustainable development.

Food production in 2050 will be sufficient, globally, but many of the poor will remain food insecure. The primary cause of food insecurity will continue to be poverty, rather than inadequate food production. Thus, policies and investments that increase the incomes of the poor will remain the best ways to extend food security to all. Investments that promote growth in sustainable agriculture and provide non-farm employment opportunities in rural areas of lower income countries will be most helpful. There will be sufficient water, globally, to achieve food production goals and sustain rural and urban livelihoods, if we allocate and manage the resource wisely. Yet, water shortages will constrain agricultural production and limit incomes and livelihood opportunities in many areas. Policies and investments are needed to extend and ensure access to water for household use and agricultural production. Challenges requiring the attention of policy makers and investors include increasing urbanization and increasing demands for land and water resources. Policy makers must ensure that farmers retain access to the water they need for producing food and sustaining livelihoods, and they must create greater opportunities for women in agriculture. They must also motivate investments in new technologies that will enhance crop and livestock production, particularly for smallholders, and encourage the private sector to invest in activities that create employment opportunities in rural areas.

Water-Food-Energy (WFE) resources exert mutual influences upon each other and thus cannot be managed separately. Information on household WFE expenditures addresses knowledge that distinguishes between geospatial districts' social welfare. Social welfare and investment in districts' WFE resources are interconnected. District (node) product of WFE normalized expenditures (Volume) is considered as a representative WFE Nexus holistic quantity. This Volume is assumed to be a function of residents' knowledge of welfare level across districts. We prove that the Volume rate conforms to Boltzmann entropy, and this is the premise of our hypothesis for directed information from high to low welfare between network nodes. Welfare mass (WM) represents the district's Volume combined with its income and population density. This WM is used as input into a model balancing between all domain nodes that allows policymakers to simulate the effects of potential quantifiable policy decisions targeted to individual districts at a domain level while also considering influences between districts. Based on existing historic data, the established tool exemplifies its potential by providing outcomes for Israel districts showing the influence of imposing different temporal allocation/deallocation actions as managerial regulations to prescribed districts. It is found that districts with a high WM do not suffer when a defund is applied, but districts that have a low WM gain from subsidies.