Abstract: Taking Anhui province as the research object,the coupling coordination model was constructed to measure the development level and coupling coordination degree of water-energy-food（W-E-F） nexus from 2006 to 2018. In the meantime the spatial and temporal characteristics of the nexus was analyzed. The results show that from 2006 to 2018, the comprehensive evaluation index of the W-E-F system in Anhui province has presented an overall upward trend, and the coupling coordination degree has risen from 0.490 9 to 0.870 2, reaching a good coordination level as a whole. However, the development characteristics of the various subsystems are different. Water resources subsystem has large fluctuations, energy subsystem develops relatively slowly, and food subsystem develops rapidly, and the overall development and utilization level is higher than that of water resources and energy. There are also significant spatial variation in the coordination level of the W-E-F system. Hefei, Huainan and Xuancheng have a relatively high level of coordination, and the weak areas of each subsystem are mainly located in Lu'an, Ma'anshan, Huaibei and other places. Most regions are facing the problem of increasing imbalance in the internal development of W-E-F system. Among them, the contradiction between food and water resources is the most prominent. It is necessary to promulgate water-saving policies, improve water-saving irrigation efficiency, and reduce the impact on water resources caused by food production.

Key words: water-energy-food（W-E-F）, coupling and coordination, spatial and temporal evolution characteristics, Anhui province