A Review of the integrated WEF nexus modeling platform in the NENA region: Morocco case study

Abstract

Nowadays, the world is recognizing the water-food-energy (WEF) as a conceptual framework that aims to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The WEF Nexus is being developed to support the integrity of national and more importantly local projects in the cross-sectoral partnerships and coordination to enhance the sustainable development outcomes from the different projects as well as avoiding the trade-offs. Most importantly, building a great synergy between the sectors is challenged by sectorial boundaries such as policy decisions, scaling investments, and cross-sectorial consequences, which leads to anticipation biases when it comes to social, economic, and environmental costs. This paper aims to review the latest integrated WEF Nexus modeling platform that has been developed in the NENA region during the project "Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Water Efficiency/Productivity and Water Sustainability in NENA Countries" (WEPS-NENA), led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

Keywords

• water-energy-food nexus
• sustainable development
• modeling
• decision-making