The interdependencies in the water-energy-food  nexus, coupled with its high exposure to climate change, amplify WEF risks. Risks can be transmitted from one WEF sector to the other two with cascading risks to human health, cities and infrastructure . For example, increasing demand for water for agricultural and energy production is driving an increasing competition over water resources between food and energy industries which, among other effects, compromises the nutritional needs of local populations . Drought events, such as in southern Africa during the 2015/16 El Niño, have been associated with major multi-sector impacts on food security  and reduced energy security through disruption to hydropower generation  . The WEF nexus of the Nile and Zambezi river basins, which include many of Africa's largest existing hydropower dams, have received the most attention. In these two regions, where socioeconomic development is already driving up demand, projections indicate that water scarcity may be exacerbated by drying  and increased flow variability . However, for Africa more widely, very few studies fully integrate all three WEF nexus sectors and rarely include an explicit focus on climate change.
IPCC
Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
IPCC Report