A Nexus-Based Systematic Review of Food Security, Gender Inequalities and Water Resource Management: Insights from Spatial Modeling and CGE Modeling

Despite women’s central role in food production, water collection and climate adaptation in marginalized regions, gender dimensions remain underrepresented in nexus research. This systematic review examines the conceptualization and analysis of food security, gender inequalities and water management in recent nexus literature, revealing persistent gaps in land conflicts, deforestation, spatial resilience, capabilities and Africa-focused analyses. We propose a Food–Gender–Water nexus framework centering intersectional gender disparities, spatial inequalities and capability constraints. A hybrid protocol combining bibliometric mapping, SPAR-4-SLR and PRISMA-PICOST was applied to screen the literature. Hybrid spatial-CGE modeling is advocated to bridge localized vulnerabilities with economy-wide impacts, thereby operationalizing the three co-equal pillars of wise agricultural systems-economic viability and resilience, environmental sustainability and social justice and equity-while enabling equity-centered evaluation of climate shocks and resource interdependencies. This approach advances Sustainable Development Goal 13.1 on resilience to hazards and 13.2 on gender-responsive planning, prioritizing women, youth and marginalized communities in least developed contexts.