The project
A Water-Energy-Food Nexus Toolkit (WEF-Tools) to support sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development in water scarce regions
Background: The Water, Energy, and Food sectors are interconnected and part of a complex system which is referred to as the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus. The assessment of WEF interactions through this holistic approach is crucial to identify interlinkages, enhance synergies, and to minimise trade-offs among these three sectors when developing plans. Water, energy, and food are the core of the programmes and strategies of developing countries where the interest in the WEF nexus approach is rapidly growing. However, a lack of empirical evidence, approaches, and qualitative and quantitative tools for WEF nexus assessment has been highlighted.
Objective: WEF-Tools supports the sustainable socio-economic development in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions by applying in five case studies an approach that starts from conceptual mapping of the Water-Energy-Food nexus system to the development of quantitative tools such as the System Dynamics Models (SDMs), and the identification and computation of indicators for the assessment of different scenarios and management strategies, subsequently providing decision-makers with feasible development pathway options.
WEF-Tools project objectives
Outputs: WEF-Tools will provide a structured knowledge base, qualitative and quantitative tools, dashboards, and a composite nexus index which will be co-developed, tested, validated, and refined through an interactive collaboration with stakeholders. The toolkit is intended to support the development of short-, medium- and long- term strategies for sustainable natural resource management and to inform policy and practice at river basin as well as local, national, and regional levels. The project`s outcomes will provide a means for government ministries, NGOs and development agencies to assess progress towards relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular, SDGs 2, 6, and 7. Thus, WEF-Tools aims at supporting policymakers across these sectors to make decisions which support environment, economy, and WEF security developments.
