Development of lessons learned and options for future Nexus projects

The Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus approach marks a fundamental shift for practitioners and academics working towards sustainable resource security. By focusing on the interconnectedness of all three sectors, trade-offs as well as synergies become obvious. For example, water and energy are needed for food production and processing. Then again, agricultural products and water are used for energy production. The WEF Nexus offers a holistic and integrated approach to address these resources equally.

For the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the WEF Nexus approach is at the core of the Nexus Regional Dialogues (NRD) programme and the FREXUS project. These projects take place in the regions of Latin America and the Caribbean, the Niger Basin, South Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and Central Asia. They aim towards institutionalising the approach in order to improve security and climate resilience. As these projects came to an end, adelphi developed two comprehensive studies looking into their achievements and learnings. The first concentrated on the lessons learned from the regional projects, highlighting good practices and challenges. Building on these, the second study focused on developing options for future thematic and programmatic development, exploring possible co-financing opportunities and including concrete WEF Nexus project proposals. adelphi organised two participatory workshops with key representatives and partners of the NRD programme and the Frexus project in order to develop a clear, positive and solution-oriented narrative of the future WEF Nexus approach. Thus, adelphi generated important context- and practice-related findings to expand the Nexus community, hereby contributing to livelihood development, peace and security through a more sustainable use of resources and improved coordination across sectors.