Water and Food in Africa

If you are interested in learning more about how countries in Africa compare to others around the world, check out the website  Gapminder . This website allows you to play around with different variables on the x-axis and y-axis, such as income, life expectancy, and total water withdrawal. You can choose particular countries and see how different variables for these specific countries have changed over the past 100 to 200 years. There also are many water features you can play with, such as agricultural water withdrawal, total water withdrawal, and desalinated water produced. I encourage you to play around with this website. Let me know what you think! Gapminder:  https://www.gapminder.org/tools/#$chart-type=bubbles Figure 1: Example of what you might find on Gapminder

I am taking a quick break from my regular water and food blog posts to highlight the UNFCCC COP25 that is happening in early December. In March 2019, Africa Climate Week (ACW) took place in Accra, Ghana. People from around the world gathered to discuss climate goals in and around Africa. Some of these included Nationally Determined Contributions set by Africa in last year’s United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP). Additionally, climate change solutions and new technological innovations were showcased. This educated people about the different technologies that exist and sought to inspire people to increase innovation. Africa as a whole has extremely low greenhouse gas emissions, yet they are still taking climate action initiatives to minimize their carbon footprint ( UNFCCC ). Africa Climate Week was a follow up to COP 24 in Poland 2018, and will lead the way for COP 25 in Spain 2019. Many groups were in attendance, such as...

We've lost a majority of the wetlands in our world, largely as a consequence of human actions. Wetlands are known as areas that are saturated with water, if not completely flooded. There is sometimes seasonal flooding and sometimes permanent flooding ( Ramsar Convention on Wetlands 2019 ). Different forms of wetlands exist, such as swamps, floodplains, and rivers ( Australian Government ). In sub-Saharan Africa, the majority of wetlands are floodplains and freshwater marshes, and it is approximated that 4.7 to 6% of sub-Saharan Africa is wetlands. Wetlands provide many ecosystem benefits to people living in Africa and can have both positive and negative impacts on agriculture and livestock ( Rebelo et al. 2010 ). Some of these ecosystem services include drinking water, fertile soils, grazing, aquaculture, and drought resilience ( Australian Government ). 
 Humans are a driving factor in global warming and also the degradation of our wetlands which provide many ecosystem benefits ...

Take a moment to think about the primary cause of world hunger. What comes to mind? What actions can we take to alleviate hunger around the world? There are 800 million hungry people in the world and 97.75% of them live on the following four continents: Africa, Asia, South America, and Antarctica. The remaining 2.25% live on the more developed continents of North America, Europe, and Australia ( Ted Talk 2011 ). These numbers are from Esther Ndichu’s Ted Talk titled “Hunger isn't a food issue. It's a logistics issue.” Ms. Ndichu, a humanitarian advocate who works with United Parcel Service (UPS) on global humanitarian engagements, discusses world hunger and specifically focuses on issues in Africa. Although I do not want to spoil the whole talk, Ms. Nidchu does a very nice job highlighting the many drivers behind hunger and food insecurity. She challenges the generally accepted school of thought that drought is one of the only drivers of food insecurity and hunger. Take a mom...

In my earlier post, I mentioned the prevalence of droughts in Africa. Although not an ideal situation, farmers in Africa have learned how to push through drought by growing crops that can survive with less water. One example is drought tolerant maize. Maize is commonly eaten in Africa, helps many people avoid food insecurity, and can be sold to earn income. In Africa, 40% of maize-growing areas encounter challenges from drought, which results in a decrease in crop yield. Roughly 10 to 25% of maize crop yield is lost as a result of drought. Drought tolerant maize helps minimize these losses. This maize has been thoroughly tested and was found to be successful, but the level of drought tolerant maize use in Africa varies from country to country. For example in Malawi, 61% of maize plots started using drought tolerant maize, while in Zimbabwe it was only 9 percent. The high implementation percentage in Malawi is partially due to its large-scale Farm Input Subsidy Program (FISP), which aim...

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) was founded in 2006 under a partnership between the  Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation  and the Rockefeller Foundation. Its mission states that investing in agriculture is the best way to reduce poverty and food insecurity in Africa. Billions of dollars have been raised by various foundations to assist this mission ( Moseley 2017 ). AGRA is unusual in that it is independent and led by Africans based in Africa. Instead of having foreigners take charge of the organization, it is largely run by African professionals who have a lot of knowledge about agriculture in Africa. This may also mean that people have more incentive to ensure the initiatives and investments in agriculture in Africa are successful. AGRA focuses on smallholder farmers, which is essential because they make up 70% of the population in Africa. By supporting smallholder farmers, it gives those farmers the opportunity to not only feed their own families, but a...

One form of irrigation that greatly considers farmers' interests is farmer-led irrigation. Farmer-led irrigation is known as "a process where farmers assume a driving role in improving their water use for agriculture by bringing about changes in knowledge production, technology use, investment patterns and market linkages, and the governance of land and water" ( Woodhouse et al. 2017 ).  Based on a study in Zimbabwe, farmer-led irrigation was found to be very flexible and can easily adjust to different social and technological advances. This is due to fewer restrictions being placed on designs and because individual farmers have more of a personal stake in the process. A wide variety of actors are involved, such as farmers and repairers, which allows action to be taken more quickly with more knowledge. Farmer-led irrigation is both more extensive and more differentiated than more formal irrigation schemes. A good study of farmer-led irrigation is seen in Zimbabwe. Compare...

It is helpful to have an overview of the available crop irrigation methods. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the two primary ways farmers water crops is through irrigation and rain-fed farming. Irrigation pulls water from existing sources, such as groundwater, wells, or rivers, and feeds them into tubes and sprays to water crops. Although these crops are less susceptible to water shortages, they are at risk of contamination if the irrigation water sources are contaminated. Crops may be contaminated by agricultural runoff, such as from pesticides or fertilizers contaminating lakes during rainfall. Contaminated water is not only bad for crop growth, but also may be harmful to the people consuming those crops. Food-borne illnesses may spread through fruits or vegetables and make people sick ( CDC Water Contamination ). Although irrigation-fed crops have a more reliable water source, this source will run out if overused. Even so, irrigation can help provi...

In the face of extreme water scarcity, local governments established “Day Zero” as a day where strict water regulations and distribution would be imposed on its citizens. Day Zero would be implemented when dam levels dropped to 13.5%. In January 2018, Cape Town announced that it would be implementing Day Zero on its 4 million citizens on April 12, 2018 due to drought and lack of available water and rainfall ( City Lab ). As part of Day Zero, people would line up to collect a limited amount of water, roughly the amount of a two-minute shower daily per person. The idea of Day Zero made people extremely frantic and caused people to voluntarily cut back on their water consumption. When Cape Town residents’ water usage was cut by over half of the current usage ( Wolski 2018 ), Day Zero was cancelled.
 Figure 1: Cape Town is located on the southern most tip in South Africa ( Source ).  So what happened? How did Cape Town avoid this catastrophic day? 
Cancellation of Day Ze...

In many African countries, water is mainly used for agriculture like livestock watering and cropland irrigation. Why is this important? Inconsistent and scarce water supply directly impacts the continent’s agriculture and food production. Addressing this core issue can increase self-sufficiency and result in lower food scarcity levels in Africa ( Taylor 2004 ). Water consistency is especially important in areas with irregular or low rainfall. If irrigation systems are implemented, these areas would not be as susceptible to the vagaries of the changing climate. This is especially important as the impacts of climate change become more drastic. During the El Niño years, poor climate conditions often result in significant declines in agricultural production in parts of Africa. This negatively impacts standard of living and economic growth ( Baudoin et al. 2017 ). Figure 1: Water availability by country in Africa and expected availability for 2025 ( UNEP ). Water availability...

Welcome to my blog. Over the last four years, I have developed a keen interest in environmental issues with a particular focus on the impact of water availability in agriculture and on our food supply. Over the next few months, I will be blogging about these interests in relation to water and food issues in Africa. Food Insecurity in Africa Significant food insecurity exists in Africa. In 2016, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ( FAO ) reported that almost 30% of people in Africa were severely food insecure. In 2018, it was reported that Africa comprised 31% of the world’s undernourished people. Food insecurity in Africa has not gone unnoticed and global efforts have been put in place to address food insecurity. Under the 2014  Malabo Declaration  on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods, the African Union (AU) (made up of heads of state and local governments) pledged to end hunger in ...