Alexander Smajgl & John Ward 
The Water-Food-Energy Nexus in the Mekong Region 
Assessing Development Strategies Considering Cross-Sectoral and Transboundary Impacts

​This Brief provides a cross-sectional analysis of development-directed investments in the wider Mekong region. The wider Mekong region includes Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and the Chinese province of Yunnan. Evidence highlights that a few critical dynamics, including human migration, natural resource flows, and financial investments, generate a high level of connectivity between these countries. Such high levels of connectivity increase complexity and the potential for ripple effects of national decisions. The emerging links between countries can unfold in financial investments, migration, or the flow of resources. As these links intensify the regional connectivity increases and over time a highly connected region can emerge, as experienced by the Mekong region.​ This Brief also contains a chapter at the end of the book featuring numerous charts and diagrams further illustrating the impact of development activities in the area.

Table of Content

​ ​​Mekong Region Activity.- Water Sector Analysis.- Food Security In the Greater Mekong Subregion.- The Energy Sector.- Livelihoods and Migration.- Land-Use Change.- Mining.- Cross-Sectorial Assessment.

About the author

Alexander Smajgl is researcher at CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Queensland, Australia.