Impact of Flood Events on the Water–Food–Energy Security for Hydropower Dams along the River Niger Basin

Abstract Hydropower dams in the River Niger Basin face escalating flood risks driven by climate change and upstream watershed degradation. These dams are critical for energy security, water regulation, and food systems across one of Africa's most populous transboundary basins. This review evaluates flood impacts through a Water–Food–Energy (WFE) nexus lens, investigating how extreme hydrological events generate cascading liabilities across sectors that single-sector assessments systematically underestimate. A systematic literature review was conducted using SCOPUS, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and institutional databases, synthesizing findings from 75 peer-reviewed publications. The analysis reveals that flood-induced spillway releases, while necessary for dam safety, simultaneously degrade downstream water quality, inundate floodplain agriculture, reduce fisheries productivity, and curtail hydropower generation. Sediment-laden flood pulses accelerate reservoir capacity loss and undermine irrigation reliability. At the same time, energy-sector disruptions propagate into food systems through irrigation pump failures, cold chain interruptions, and processing facility downtime. Transboundary governance gaps further amplify downstream vulnerabilities. The review concludes that engineering-centric or energy-focused flood management overlooks critical basin-wide nexus interdependencies. Effective adaptation requires integrated operational protocols and WFE-sensitive risk assessment frameworks that align dam safety with cross-sectoral resilience.