Water and Food in Africa

This post looks at the importance of wetlands through a case study example. These environments encompass many issues and challenges within the topic of water and food which makes them perfect to explore. What are wetlands? Wetlands are areas of land that are often inundated with water. This can happen seasonally or periodically in some areas while other areas of wetland can be inundated permanently. Some important African wetland features can include peatlands, rivers, deltas, mangroves, and floodplains . These ecosystems have been argued to be some of the most productive in the world and also at the greatest risk from climate change . Overall, wetlands make up approximately 1,341,500 km2 of the total area in Africa with the largest areas of wetland around the equator.  Figure 1 : Locations of wetlands in Africa by area.  The Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands The Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands (HNWs) are located in the Yobe State, Northern Nigeria, and are part of the Chad Basin. This area is...

Having looked at the green revolution in Africa through a positive lens it is important to examine who is benefiting the most and who may be getting left behind.  Farmers left behind.  Organisations such as the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and Millenium Promise Alliance (MPA) have shown how new seeds have improved crop yields and resistance.  However, the most recent AGRA 2021 report highlights that only 49% of the 11 million farmers directly reached for new technology and infrastructure between 2017-2021 actually adopted the new seed varieties. One major reason for this is that families have been farming for their livelihoods for a long time and have developed cultural practices that are not accounted for when introducing new technology. Another reason for this is that the new seeds tend to be more expensive than the ones previously used. This leads to the improved yield not making up for the cost of the new seeds planted  over smaller areas....

Having previously looked at how the management of water and agriculture has changed over time we now turn to how food production itself has changed in attempting to become more sustainable for the future. Africa's "green revolution" now or never! A green revolution can be outlined as greatly increasing food production through the use of technology such as high yield and resistant species of crop. This can also be through the use of fertilisers and pesticides. The United Nations 2022 hunger report highlights that the prevalence of undernourishment has remained stable since 2015 but rose from 8% in 2019 to 9.8% in 2021 . Now at least 1 in 5 people face hunger in Africa. With severe food insecurity rising and only 8 years left to meet SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), a green revolution appears to be vital in tackling this problem.  Figure 1 : Share of population with severe food insecurity. Behind Africa's green revolution One major organisation behind Africa's green revolution...

Before exploring present-day and possible future water and food management strategies in Africa, it is essential to examine the past. Immanent challenges such as climate change and population growth can only be effectively mitigated by acknowledging previous successes and failures of management.  Origins in the Nile The earliest signs of water management in Africa are found at the River Nile. With the use of radiocarbon dating , the appearance of agriculture in Northern Egypt can be traced back to 6000BC . Water storage and irrigation strategies were first recorded at 5100BC. Nilometers are some of the earliest gauging stations. These large columns allowed future and current water levels to be predicted and measured. Crop failure due to drought or flooding could be expected and mitigated. The necessity to manage these water resources led to hydraulic civilizations  as these projects were planned and built by large labour forces. This highlights the link between water man...

The development challenge In 2015 the United Nations member states adopted 17  Sustainable Development Goals  (SDGs). These aimed to promote action in improving conditions for all life while tackling climate change. When looking at water and development in Africa, SDGs 2 (Zero Hunger) and 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) are critical in improving quality of life. As discussed in the last post water resources are highly variable. Food production per capita rates are also some of the lowest in the world. Africa's current population of 1.4 billion is projected to increase to 4.2 billion by 2100. Therefore, different farming practices and new resources of water are essential to improve agricultural production and resilience to climate change. Figure 1 : The 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Rain-fed and irrigated agriculture Smallholder farmers are vital making up 80% of all African farms and accounting for 90% of the agricultural production in many countries. The vast majority o...

This is the first blog post of many that will be posted over the next few months. These will focus on the challenges and issues that arise from Water and Food in Africa. Water resources Water is a complex resource with a variety of different indicators and thresholds for water stress and scarcity. Water scarcity can be described as a lack of renewable freshwater resources that do not meet demand . A prolonged time period of water scarcity can be defined as water stress where human and ecological needs cannot be met. Falkenmark's water stress index (WSI) linked food and famine to water suggesting that a single person needs 1000m ³  of water a year. When this amount of water is not available water stress occurs. This WSI has been widely used due to its simplicity but it " fundamentally misrepresents both freshwater resources and demand in regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa ". This misrepresentation comes from the variability of water in Africa. Central Africa around the eq...