Agent-Based Modeling for Integrating Human Behavior into the Food–Energy–Water Nexus

Abstract

The nexus of food, energy, and water systems (FEWS) has become a salient research topic, as well as a pressing societal and policy challenge. Computational modeling is a key tool in addressing these challenges, and FEWS modeling as a subfield is now established. However, social dimensions of FEWS nexus issues, such as individual or social learning, technology adoption decisions, and adaptive behaviors, remain relatively underdeveloped in FEWS modeling and research. Agent-based models (ABMs) have received increasing usage recently in efforts to better represent and integrate human behavior into FEWS research. A systematic review identified 29 articles in which at least two food, energy, or water sectors were explicitly considered with an ABM and/or ABM-coupled modeling approach. Agent decision-making and behavior ranged from reactive to active, motivated by primarily economic objectives to multi-criteria in nature, and implemented with individual-based to highly aggregated entities. However, a significant proportion of models did not contain agent interactions, or did not base agent decision-making on existing behavioral theories. Model design choices imposed by data limitations, structural requirements for coupling with other simulation models, or spatial and/or temporal scales of application resulted in agent representations lacking explicit decision-making processes or social interactions. In contrast, several methodological innovations were also noted, which were catalyzed by the challenges associated with developing multi-scale, cross-sector models. Several avenues for future research with ABMs in FEWS research are suggested based on these findings. The reviewed ABM applications represent progress, yet many opportunities for more behaviorally rich agent-based modeling in the FEWS context remain.

The Five Ws of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: A Reflexive Approach to Enable the Production of Actionable Knowledge

“…While the first of these possibilities has been little explored in nexus research (see for exceptions Guillaume et al, 2015;Pellegrini and Fernández, 2018), studies that look at how to plan for the future (whether near or distant) have certainly been more popular. This is why you can often find studies that combine the concept of the nexus with systems dynamic and agent-based models, as they create virtual representations of the world to test different possible outcomes under different scenarios (Liu et al, 2015;Magliocca, 2020).…”

“…While the integration of shortand long-term research is preferable, some researchers point out how difficult it is to find a balance between temporal dimensions and how many models fail to capture long-term dynamics (that are often uncertain in themselves), thus not being able to support decision-making on sustainability issues (Allain et al, 2018). These difficulties are even more pronounced when trying to model nexus interactions, as trade-offs between water, energy, and food tend to occur over very long time scales (Magliocca, 2020). For example, Ericksen (2008, p. 243) raises the question of how "increased agricultural productivity today may be at the cost of sufficient water availability in the future, " arguing that many trade-offs involving ecosystem services are often between short-term gains and long-term costs.…”

Modeling Analysis on Coupling Mechanisms of Mountain–Basin Human–Land Systems: Take Yuxi City as an Example

“…However, as a series of environmental problems and food security problems brought about by human activities on the earth continue to affect the human system [2][3][4], the academic circle is paying more and more attention to the comprehensive research of "people" and "land" [5]. A variety of new comprehensive methods, including statistical methods, GIS and spatial Land 2022, 11, 1068 2 of 16 analysis methods, simulation methods and hybrid methods have been applied [6][7][8][9]. As the questions raised by researchers increasingly involved the intersection of human activities and the earth's environmental system [10,11], the academic circle further recognized that the modeling of feedback between humans and the natural environment has become an urgent requirement [12,13].…”

Spatial–temporal distribution measurement of input–output efficiency of the water–energy–food nexus of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China

“…Currently, the research on the WEF nexus is emerging at home and abroad, and the scope and depth of research are increasing. More and more theoretical frameworks have been put forward, including the symbiosis framework of the WEF nexus based on symbiosis theory (Zhi et al, 2020;, the comprehensive evaluation framework based on life cycle theory (LCA) (Lin et al, 2021), the coupled modeling approach based on agent (Magliocca, 2020), etc. In terms of spatial scale, the research mainly involves international (Belinskij, 2015), inter-provincial (Wang et al, 2021), countylevel (Kulat et al, 2019), etc.…”