Abstract
Water, energy and food are essential resources for economic development and social well-being. Framing integrated policies that improve their efficient use requires understanding the interdependencies in the water–energy–food (WEF) nexus. Stakeholder involvement in this process is crucial to represent multiple perspectives, ensure political legitimacy and promote dialogue. In this research, we develop and apply a participatory modelling approach to identify the main interlinkages within the WEF nexus in Andalusia, as a starting point to developing a system dynamic model at a later stage. The application of fuzzy cognitive mapping enabled us to gain knowledge on the WEF nexus according to opinions from 14 decision-makers, as well as contributing to raising awareness and building consensus among stakeholders. Results show that climate change and water availability are key drivers in the WEF nexus in Andalusia. Other variables with significant interlinkages within the WEF nexus are food production, irrigated agriculture, energy cost, socio-economic factors, irrigation water use, environmental conservation, and farm performance indicators. The scenario analysis reveals the interdependencies among nexus sectors and the existence of unanticipated effects when changing variables in the system, which need to be considered to design integrated policies.
Highlights
Sustainable resource management requires a nexus approach in decision-making that considers trade-offs and synergies across sectors
The outcome of this study enables the validation of a conceptual model on the water–energy–food nexus (WEF) nexus in Andalusia, which is a crucial step to developing an system dynamic models (SDM) at a later stage
Stakeholders agreed that climate change and water availability are key factors in the WEF nexus, as all of the maps considered them
Summary
Sustainable resource management requires a nexus approach in decision-making that considers trade-offs and synergies across sectors. Water availability and use influence the food and energy sectors and, simultaneously, are influenced by them These cross-sectoral connections need to be considered to promote efficiency in the use of resources [1]. The international community increasingly perceives the water–energy–food nexus (WEF) as an overarching concept to address these complex and interconnected resource management challenges [1,2,3]. This WEF nexus is relevant because expected socio-economic development and climate change will increase pressure on resources and drive conflicts between the different sectors over the coming decades [2,4]. Some studies show the existence of policy incoherence in the WEF nexus throughout the world [5]
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