Identifying the Factors Affecting the Optimal Management of Resources Using Nexus Approach in the Agricultural Section

Water, food and energy are the main resources needed for the development of communities. The nexus view emphasizes the interconnected management of these resources and has been applied with a focus on three sources at the macro level. In this research, evaluation and prioritization of effective factors and methods of optimal resource allocation based on the nexus approach of water, energy and food production with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in Alborz province has been considered. For this purpose, the criteria were compared in pairs in a hierarchical analysis with the opinions of experts and their importance was determined. Criteria including water, food and energy were considered. Factors affecting the optimal allocation of resources in Alborz province were determined and presented as multiple choice and compared in pairs based on questionnaires completed by experts. The results showed that the water criterion with the relative weight of 61.4% has the greatest impact on the evaluation process compared to other criteria and the energy and food criteria with the relative weight of 26.2% and 12.4% have the most impact, respectively. Among the developed strategies, education and awareness raising with a score of 35.9% was ranked first, and environmental policy with a score of 26.6% was ranked second. Therefore, it is suggested that strategies for education and promotion of awareness and environmental policy be given priority.