Abstract
Food, energy and water are important basic resources that affect the sustainable development of a region. The influence of food–energy–water (FEW) nexus on sustainable development has quickly become a frontier topic since the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were put forward. However, the overall context and core issues of the FEW nexus contributions to SDGs are still unclear. Using co-citation analysis, this paper aims to map the knowledge domains of FEW nexus research, disentangles its evolutionary context, and analyzes the core issues in its research, especially the progress of using quantitative simulation models to study the FEW nexus. We found that (1) studies within the FEW nexus focused on these following topics: correlation mechanisms, influencing factors, resource footprints, and sustainability management policies; (2) frontier of FEW studies have evolved from silo-oriented perspective on single resource system to nexus-oriented perspective on multiple systems; (3) quantitative research on the FEW nexus was primarily based on spatiotemporal evolution analysis, input–output analysis and scenario analysis; (4) the resource relationship among different sectors was synergies and tradeoffs within a region. In general, current research still focuses on empirical data, mostly qualitative and semiquantitative analyses, and there is a lack of research that can systematically reflect the temporal and spatial contribution of the FEW nexus to multiple SDGs. We believe that future research should focus more on how FEW nexus can provide mechanistic tools for achieving sustainable development.
Highlights
Food, energy and water (FEW) are basic resources that affect the sustainable development of a region
Research cases (Table 1) are mostly concentrated in countries and regions of the Global South (e.g., Qatar, Ghana, China, and Sub-Saharan Africa) [29,51,53,54,55,56], and the spatial differences and separations between scholars and research cases are worthy of attention [101]; (2) The research topics mainly focus on ecosystem services, energy investment, policy consistency, environmental footprint, etc. (Figure 10 and Table 5), involving systematic research related to economy, society, resources, environment, and governance
How to achieve regional sustainable development under resource limitation, especially based on the scientific theory of planetary boundary, the realization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to food, energy, and water resources has already faced huge challenges [106,107,108,109]
Summary
Energy and water (FEW) are basic resources that affect the sustainable development of a region. They have mutual influence that is strongly interconnected [1,2] and appears in the Sustainable. Due to this strong interaction, the realization of SDGs related to food, energy and water becomes challenging [3,4,5,6]. The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), an entity that assesses the SDG global progress, reported a shortage of FEW resources in different regions of the world [7]. Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, is facing difficulties to obtain adequate clean drinking water, food security, access to electricity, energy efficiency, and these challenges eradicate. Many environmental problems occur in Central Asia, after 2015 [9]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
