Rapid assessment of the water–energy–food–climate nexus in six selected basins of North Africa and West Asia undergoing transitions and scarcity threats

The water-energy-food-climate nexus approach highlights the synergies in human life-

support systems between these essential types of ecosystem stocks and flows (Hoff, 2011).

In the drylands, a growing population will need to be nourished while balancing

competing demands for all sectors of the economy with less dependable water availability

in future (Falkenmark &Molden, 2008; IPCC, 2014). Energy use for pumping and treating

water can boost water supplies, but increasing emissions further exacerbates climate

change and threatens resource-dependent populations (WWDR, 2014). The nexus

approach invites water managers to reconsider the inevitability of a bloated blue water and

emissions footprint for agriculture by maximizing green agricultural water uses (Herren,

2011; IAASTD, 2009; Keys, Barron, & Lannerstad, 2012) and re-evaluating the

integration of water, geochemical and energy cycles in agriculture together with the other

sectors (UN, 2014; WEF, 2014).