MENA
The Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA) stretches over 6,000 km from Morocco in the West to Iran in the East. Despite significant sub-regional differences, the entire area is facing similar challenges. The MENA countries are coping with an increasing water deficit, while striving to achieve a self-sustaining agriculture. The region only contains 1.4% of the world’s freshwater resources, making it one of the world’s most water-scarce regions.
This water scarcity and recent economic instability has left its population even more vulnerable to food insecurity.
Energy production in the region still strongly relies on fossil fuels, even though there is a high potential for renewable energies and 30 million people in the Arab region still remain without access to electricity. In addition, the countries are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
Fulfilling MENA’s high demands requires an understanding of the synergies, conflicts and compensations that connect water, energy and food with ecosystems.
Among the different intersectoral WEF Nexus, holistic solutions propsosed are:
• solar-powered irrigation systems
• solar desalination
• solar energy for waste-water treatment and reuse
• investments in biofuels and offshore agricultural to ensure food security and preserve scarce water resources.
There is a growing recognition in the region to adopt the Nexus approach, fostered by several single- and multi-state ministries and institutions.
Recent News
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Nexus Interview Series // Djahida Boukhalfa, Regional Coordinator Nexus Dialogue in the MENA region at GIZ
With this interview series, we want to provide a better picture of the people working for the Nexus Dialogue Programme in the five regions - Central…
Blog // Interview with first-ever NL Regional Envoy for Water & Energy Security in MENA
Tessa Terpstra is a Deputy Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, currently dealing with protocol and host country affairs. She has over 15…
Blog // Stakeholders explore opportunities to finance Water-Food-Energy-Ecosystems Nexus projects in the Western Balkans
What are the necessary conditions that will pave the way for the implementation of impactful Nexus solutions and investments in the Drin and…
Recent Resources
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Report // Climate Resilience in Cities of the EU’s Southern Neighbourhood: Opportunities for the EU Green Deal
By Hannah Abdullah, Karim Elgendy, and Hanne Knaepen. This CASCADES Spotlight Study examines climate vulnerabilities in urban areas in countries to…
Report // The Water-Energy Nexus in Iran: Water-Related Challenges for the Power Sector
By Julia Terrapon-Pfaff, Thomas Fink, and Stefan Lechtenböhmer. This study explores the water-energy nexus' relevance to the Iranian electricity…
Research article // The food-water-energy nexus governance model: A case study for Iran
By Nima Norouzi and Ghazal Kalantari. In this paper, a novel governance framework is being implemented to improve the conceptual framework of the…