Household-level socio-economic drivers of the trade-offs and synergies in the food, water and energy nexus: Empirical evidence from Amathole district municipality, South Africa

• TSI of 53.7% reveals households experience more trade-offs than synergies in the F-W-E nexus. • Transport, income, and labour use trade-offs dominated F-W-E resources. • Solar pumps and transport use emerged as key synergies across the F-W-E nexus. • Household size, credit access, farming and food prices negatively affect the TSI • Socio-economic factors drive trade-offs and synergies in the household F-W-E nexus. Trade-offs (TOs) and synergies (SYs) are unintended or observed consequences within the household food, water and energy (F-W-E) nexus, where TOs imply gains in one resource hinder others and SYs reflect mutual benefits across resources. Yet, little attention has been paid to these TOs and SYs, with most concentrating on the securities that are both a pre-requisite and consequence of a nexus interaction. This is in lieu of further (un)conscious alienation of the household pre-requisites that drive these TOs and SYs. This study assessed the determinants of TOs and SYs in the household F-W-E nexus. A cross-sectional survey was employed targeting 655 randomly selected households in the Amathole District of South Africa. Trade-offs and synergies within the F-W-E nexus were quantified based on the experiences reported by households in the study area and were normalised using min–max normalisation. The study employed a Tobit regression model to examine the factors driving these TOs and SYs within the F-W-E nexus. A trade-offs and synergy index (TSI) of 53.7% was revealed suggesting that most of the respondents in the study area face more TOs than SYs in the F-W-E nexus. Additionally, the TSI was negatively influenced by household size, access to credit, participation in farming activities and increases in food prices. In conclusion, the study argues that socio-economic factors drive the household level F-W-E nexus TOs and SYs. Recommendations include strategic targeting of socio-economic factors that condition the TOs and SYs within the household F-W-E nexus.