Why Water and Food in Africa?
Welcome to my blog where I will be exploring the complexities of water and food in Africa. I hope to offer insight into some of the strategies being employed to address both water and food security in countries across the continent.
Water
Water is integral to humanity. It covers 71% of the Earth's surface but only 0.5% of this is available freshwater. Different climates and physiography have produced an inequitable distribution of freshwater worldwide. Africa is home to 20% of the world’s population but has just 9% of total renewable freshwater. To put this into perspective, the United States accounts for only 4.5% of the population yet 8% of renewable freshwater.
Although freshwater levels have remained relatively stable (~3% of all water) since the Mesozoic era, population growth has resulted in a threefold increase in its use. Faced with the growing uncertainty resulting from
climate change, it is now more important than ever that water is used and
managed sustainably.
No Water? No Food.
Agriculture accounts for 83% of Africa's freshwater withdrawal, yet of any continent, it has the lowest per capita rates of food production. Middle Africa's food production totals a meagre 62kg per capita, standing in stark contrast with North America's 1374kg. Moreover, all five African regions have negative food balances that without compensation by trade or aid, produce systemic food shortages. This highlights the need for concerted action to meet the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seen in Figure 1. This is especially true for SDG 2 - to end hunger and achieve food security - due to the intrinsic link between water provision and security.
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| Figure 1 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). |
The Case of Africa
Africa’s diversity makes for an
interesting focus. It is home to 54 nations, 3000 ethnic groups and 2000
languages. Its diversity does not stop here, though. Africa has the most varied river flows of any continent, especially in its southern regions. Weather is highly seasonal and summer monsoonal rainfall coincides with the north-south migration of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), producing very distinct wet and dry seasons throughout the
year (Figure 2).  |
| Figure 2 Contemporary rainfall variability in Africa in a) January and b) August. |
Increasing attention is also being paid to the importance of Africa’s unique topography and geology, particularly with regards to the potential of groundwater in achieving water (and food) security. This is significant as several nations are cited as being water scarce due to shortfalls in renewable freshwater relative to demand. However, the accuracy of water scarcity metrics is disputed with calls for a move past the mainstream application of Falkenmark's Water Stress Index (WSI).
The relationship between water and food is especially poignant as a rising continental population puts increasing pressure on both water and food security. I recommend watching the below video to gain some further insight into some of the intricacies of this field.
I really enjoyed reading your first blog post. In particular, I like the comparison of food production scales between Africa and America - this really put into perspective the situation at hand! I look forward to reading your future posts.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I found the difference in these statistics to be really striking as well.
DeleteI think this post provides a really great introduction to the topics that will be discussed and really appreciate the images and the video! I look forward to the subsequent posts.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sara! I found Figure 2 to be especially helpful in visualising the precipitation variability across the continent.
DeleteReally informative post Emma!! Like Silke, I thoroughly enjoyed the comparison of food produce scales between Africa and America. I found it really shocking to see! I look forward to following the development of your blog.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI think this is a very effective first blog - especially the use of percentages of the coverage of water, how much of this is freshwater and the figures with respect to the continent of Africa. This really puts into perspective the problem of water scarcity in Africa with the continent holding such a small percentage of the world's freshwater sources!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I found these numbers especially interesting as they highlight the inequitable distribution of renewable freshwater resources worldwide. Population growth also means sustainable management and distribution of Africa's freshwater is especially important to ensure food security whilst also satisfying domestic and industrial demands.
DeleteA good introduction with a balance engagement with mixed sources of data and literature. I'll suggest that a sentence about the SDG figure, especailly how it relates to Water and Food would have been helpful.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Clement. I have now added a sentence about the SDG figure.
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