Evaluation of Iran’s Water-Energy-Food Nexus Index Comparing Other Countries

Water-centric thinking in water resources management and recognizing water as a purely economic commodity can create many challenges in a country's policies. But a holistic view, such as the Water-Energy-Food Nexus, sheds light on the multicentric nature of water resources management, and that consider each as a security commodity, not a purely economic one. The nexus approach pays equal attention to the security of all three parts and their interaction. Therefore, in this study, using the global database and global projects conducted to estimate the Nexus index, the results of Iran's output and position among 170 registered countries were analyzed. Also, the criteria are ranked by a Water-centric perspective using Analytical Hierarchy process (AHP) and compared with project weights. Iran ranks 84th in the global nexus index, with the energy sector ranking 49th and the highest among other water and food sectors. According to studies, Iran is in the middle position, but some neighboring countries such as Turkey and the UAE are in the 54th and 52nd positions. Weight prioritization also showed that the water-centric perspective can underestimate the effect of important indicators.