The interconnectedness of food, energy, and water systems – commonly referred as the FEW nexus - calls for the integrated study of these systems to improve resiliency of these natural resources and adapt to our changing world. In this article, we explore the state of FEW nexus research in Guatemala to highlight progress while also pointing out future research needs. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify peer-reviewed articles and grey literature published on this topic from January 2000 to May 2020. Articles were reviewed and classified to identify the Guatemalan study location, type, topic, and data sources. Only a limited number of studies explored the interconnectedness of FEW systems; 26% of articles (36 out of 138) focused on two aspects of the FEW nexus, while 20% (27 out of 138) focused on all three aspects. Water issues were the most commonly studied, with drinking water, hydroelectricity, and wastewater management being frequently discussed. We also identified a low rate of primary data generation, with only 42% articles (58 of 138) generating new data, and greater emphasis of nexus research in the grey literature. The Guatemalan FEW connections revolve primarily around three separate yet related spheres: clean water and sanitation, climate change and renewable energy, and urbanization and modernization. Further expanding initiatives that simultaneously address these three spheres would yield improved understanding of the interconnected roles that food, energy, and water play in improving the resiliency of natural resources and reducing multidimensional poverty in Guatemala.

The water-energy-food (WEF) Nexus encompasses complex and interdependent relations and its examination requires content-specific concepts and approaches. Managing, conserving and maximizing the potential of each component is a major global concern considering the many challenges to be faced in the 21st century. The aim of this study was to identify, in the literature, recommendations for public policy, research and development, and practices for the WEF Nexus, aimed at promoting sustainable development considering stochastic and risk elements. In this regard, this paper presents a literature review of the contribution scientific studies have made toward better understanding the importance of the WEF Nexus in the context of sustainable development. Research indicates that the WEF Nexus cannot be discussed as independent sectors, highlighting the need for integrated policies and inter-sectoral and international cooperation to promote sustainable development. Therefore, the effective management of the WEF Nexus requires science-based data using risk and stochastic elements to assist policy and decision-making. Thus, in a situation of rapid global changes, decision-making processes for this Nexus must be assisted by multidisciplinary, multi-stakeholder and cross-sectoral approaches, aimed at avoiding the unintended effects of a single sector approach (e.g., energy policies stimulating hydroelectricity production need to consider factors affecting conservation and food production). With regard to the effects of climate change on the WEF Nexus, risk and stochastic elements must be considered when developing a science-based model for the sustainable management of WEF resources.

This introduction sets the scene for the special issue compiled by Martin Keulertz, Eckart Woertz and Tony Allan.

Synergistic regulation of various agricultural resources in agricultural water-energy-food nexus systems is important for understanding the key regulatory processes and related synergistic relationships. However, regulation with the goal of multienergy interaction and coordination to adapt to environmental changes is extremely challenging. As a solution to the problem, an uncertainty-based modeling approach is proposed for the optimal regulation of water, soil and energy resources from a multienergy synergy perspective by integrating multiobjective nonlinear programming, left–right type fuzzy numbers and credibility programming into a framework. The approach aims to assess the interactions and synergistic relationships among biomass electrical energy, light energy, and hydroelectric energy, clarify the dynamic characteristics of resource allocation and socioeconomic and environmental effects, and capture the high uncertainty in the nexus area. This study contributes to the efficient and sustainable management of agricultural water, energy and land resources. The approach was tested and implemented based on a case study of Jinxi Irrigation District in China. The results reveal that there are trade-offs and games among the light use efficiency, hydroelectric energy and biomass energy, and their coordination enhances the system synergy among resources, the economy and the environment by 12.22%, with a 2.67% increase in the irrigation water use efficiency and a 4.92% increase in the energy use efficiency. Uncertainties significantly affect the synergy among multiple energies. More water will promote collaborative energy management, with the coordination development degree will increase by 2.20% when the water quantity increases by 4.16%, however, it accompanied higher water scarcity risks.

With growing populations and changing climate, the food, energy and water (FEW) security have become a global issue. In response, the concept of FEW nexus in which the interdependency between FEW sectors are taken into account in order to effectively manage the resources and provide FEW security has emerged. Thus, in order to understand the interdependency between FEW sectors a thorough quantitative framework is necessary. Although there are numerous studies on FEW nexus, there is limited research on developing mathematical equations to model the FEW nexus. The goal of this study was to develop an input-output (IO) model to quantify the interdependency between FEW sectors in the Pacific Northwest. The FEW sectors were divided into 21 subsectors and IO model was used to quantify the total output of each subsector. Intensity coefficients were calculated and further broken down to technology coefficients and allocation coefficients. The uncertainty analysis was used to quantify the effect of variation in technology coefficients and allocation coefficients on output of each subsector and the results showed that these two distributions are significantly different. The results of sensitivity analysis showed that agricultural crops, especially alfalfa has the highest sensitivity to water and energy consumption due to the fact that alfalfa production is energy and water intensive. The multi-objective optimization was used to minimize the cost and environmental impact of FEW system and the results showed that in order to minimize the cost and environmental impacts, more surface water and hydroelectricity and wind electricity should be utilized.

The sustainable development goals and the Paris agreement target a global cleaner energy transition with wider adaptation, poverty reduction and climate resilience benefits. Hydropower development in the transboundary Koshi river basin presents an intervention that can support the sustainable development goals while meeting the regional commitments to the Paris agreement This study aims to quantify the benefits of eleven proposed water resource development projects in the transboundary basin (4 storage and 7 run-of-the-river hydropower dams) in terms of hydroelectric power generation, crop production and flood damage reduction. A modular hydro-economic model is constructed by soft coupling hydrological and crop growth simulation models to an economic optimization model. It assesses the potential of the interventions to break the vicious cycle of poverty and water, food, and energy insecurity. Unlike previous studies, the model a) incorporates the possibility of using hydropower to lift groundwater for irrigation as well as flood regulation and b) quantifies the resilience of the stated benefits under future climatic scenarios (from downscaled general circulation models) affecting both river flows and crop growth. The results show significant potential economic benefit generated from electricity production, increased agricultural production, and flood damage control at the basin scale. The estimated annual benefits are around USD 2.3 billion under the baseline scenario and USD 2.4 billion under a future (RCP 4.5) climate scenario, compared to an estimated annual investment cost of USD 0.7 billion. The robustness of the estimated benefits illustrates the climate resilience of the water resource development projects. Contrary to the commonly held view that the benefits of these proposed projects in the Koshi river basin are limited to hydropower, the irrigation and flood regulation benefits account for 40 percent of the total benefits. The simulated scenarios also show substantial irrigation gains from the construction of the ROR schemes, provided the generated power is used for groundwater irrigation. The integrated modelling framework and results provide useful policy insights for evidence-based decision-making in transboundary river basins around the globe facing the challenges posed by the water-food-energy nexus.

The Ili River originates in the mountains of Xinjiang, China, and flows across an increasingly arid landscape before terminating in Kazakhstan’s Lake Balkhash, which has no outlet to the ocean. The river has been extensively impounded and diverted over the past half century to produce hydroelectric power and food on irrigated land. Water withdrawals are increasing to the extent that they are beginning to threaten the ecosystem, just as it is becoming stressed by altered inflows as glaciers retreat and disappear. If the Ili River ecosystem is to be preserved, it is crucial that we thoroughly understand the spatial and temporal nuances of the interrelationships between water, energy, and food—and the vulnerability of these components to climate change. The ecosystem has all of the characteristics of a classically-defined “wicked problem”, and so it warrants treatment as a complex and dynamic challenge subject to changing assumptions, unexpected consequences, and strong social and economic overtones. Research should thus focus not just on new knowledge about the water, energy, or food component, but on advancing our understanding of the ecosystem as a whole. This will require the participation of interdisciplinary teams of researchers with both tacit and specialized knowledge.