13. The Water, Food, and Energy Nexus: The Key to a Transformative Agenda

The Water-Energy-Food nexus has emerged as a new perspective to clarify the complex and interlinked relationship between the global resource system and the potentially conflicting imperatives of substantial investments associated with energy, water, and food security. The World Economic Forum was among the first organizations to introduce the concept of the Water-Energy-Food nexus as a key development challenge. This chapter will focus on the continuous interactions between these three core sectors of the nexus. In general, food production relies on water and energy, while the extraction, treatment, and distribution of water require energy, and energy production itself necessitates water. Action taken in any of these sectors affect the others, making the optimizing of this link a key challenge. The nexus’ importance is further highlighted by its centrality to sustainable development. To ensure water and food security, and sustainable agriculture and energy production, an integrated approach between these critical domains is needed. In Pakistan and other developing countries, the demand for food, water and energy are constantly increasing due to rapid population and economic growth in combination with accelerated urbanization and changing lifestyles. The dynamic interventions in the nexus could possibly change the dimension and outcomes of the sectoral interactions.