Water and Food in Africa

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...