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Review Article
Volume 1, Article ID: 2025.0023
Mahmoud Said Rashed
mahmoudsaidrashed88@gmail.com
Shaimaa Fakhry
shaimaa.fakhry@alexu.edu.eg
Radwa Satour
radwasatour@alexu.edu.eg
Mabrouk Sobhy
mabrouk-sobhy@alexu.edu.eg
A.K. Haghi
akhaghi@gmail.com
1 Food Science and Technology Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, Alexandria, 21545, Egypt
2 Department of Pomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, Alexandria, 21545, Egypt
3 Department of Chemistry, Institute of Molecular Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed
Received: 09 Feb 2025 Accepted: 12 Dec 2025 Available Online: 13 Dec 2025
This review provides an overview of recent progress in water footprint research in terms of theoretical development, methodological improvement and practical implementation at different levels. In addition, the development of the concept of the water footprint is analysed, existing calculation methods are reviewed, and strengths and limitations are discussed. Particular attention is paid to the complex interactions within the food, energy and water Nexus by showing how analysing the water footprint can shed light on the interdependencies of resources and trade-offs. It also highlights the great progress that has been made in integrating the assessment of the water footprint with other environmental indicators, particularly within the "environmental footprint family": water, environment, energy, carbon, land, nitrogen and phosphorus footprints. This review contributes to the growing literature in the field of water resource management and provides policy makers and researchers with some useful insights into strategies for sustainable resource use.
Disclaimer : This is not the final version of the article. Changes may occur when the manuscript is published in its final format.