The 21st Century Challenges and the Food-Energy-Water-Security (FEWS) Nexus in the Middle East Region

Developing countries have experienced crucial conditions in meeting the needs for food, energy, and water security. This paper presents a country-level quantitative assessment of the current issues associated with the Food-Energy-Water-Security (FEWS) Nexus in the Middle East region. In this study, sixteen countries in the Middle East region are chosen, namely, Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, and Turkey. The most recent datasets are used to study and analyze the factors that have emerged the demand to understand and manage the linkage of FEW systems in the region. Water scarcity, extreme events, population growth, urbanization, economic growth, poverty, and political stability are found to be the key drivers of the current challenges in the Middle East region. Additionally, the results suggest that these factors have created a subsequent stress on FEW resources specifically on water sector in the region. Therefore, more attention is required to sustain the FEW resources and cope with the socio-economic development.