Why water? Why Africa? Why food?

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Welcome to my first blog post on water and food in Africa! For the upcoming academic term, I will be writing weekly entries on the broad subject of water and food in Africa and aim to guide you through some selected issues but also showcase innovative responses which address water and food security in Africa.

Why water?

Water is fundamental for livelihoods, health, development and all ecosystems. Water covers 71% of the earth’s surface however only 3% of this is freshwater. 70% of this freshwater is locked up in ice caps and glaciers. The remaining accessible freshwater is unevenly distributed with 6 countries (Brazil, Russia, Canada, Indonesia, China and Colombia) accounting for half of the global reserves (National Geographic, 2020). Therefore, the management and distribution of water is an urgent issue of global importance given that water resources are reaching critical points with novel pressures on the hydrological cycle from climate, demographic and land-use changes. Moreover, the availability of water resources and the socio-economic status of a country hugely influences its patterns of water usage. 

Why Africa?

Africa is hugely diverse, with 54 countries with varying histories, cultural practices, natural resources and physical environments. This continent has the most variable precipitation and river discharges in the world where the rainy season in different countries is dependent on the position of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). It is also home to the highest rates of population growth on the planet which are predicted to continue increasing throughout this century (Volsett et al., 2020). The combination of these issues renders the supply of water a challenge to increasingly urbanised regions.

Average Rainfall of Africa per annum (UNEP, 2004)                               Population, predicted population and growth rates of African regions (UNEP, 2004)     

Why food?

Simply put, all food needs water to grow. This intrinsic link between water and food has given rise to many historic and contemporary challenges. The second United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) is to ‘end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture globally by 2030’ (UN, 2015). With Africa being the only continent still with increasing rates of acute and chronic hunger (Baro and Deubel, 2006) much work remains to be done across the continent to meet the UNs SDG 2. The short video below (which I highly recommend you watch) from National Geographic highlights some of the complex and diverse issues the agricultural industry in different African countries face. I am hoping to highlight some of these issues as well as some innovative responses through this blog. Please comment if you have any thoughts on the issues raised in the video!

Video: Africa's complicated food puzzle (National Geographic, 2014)

Comments

  1. Sophia SaeedOctober 22, 2020 at 3:02 AM

    This is such a complex and interesting issue. I'm looking forward to seeing what you cover in the next few weeks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hamnah ShakeelOctober 22, 2020 at 1:30 PM

    Fantastic introduction that sets a clear focus for the upcoming blogs- very interested to see which issues you highlight!

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownNovember 3, 2020 at 5:53 AM


    ReplyDelete
  4. KerryNovember 11, 2020 at 7:48 AM

    I really like how you have set up your first blog post. It really makes for an intriguing read! When is the next post coming out?

    Some general remarks: really good synthesis of peer reviewed and other material. Good use of hyperlinks in the text!

    (GEOG0036 PGTA)

    ReplyDelete

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