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Wrapping Things Up...

Unfortunately, we have reached the end of the blog posts! When starting this blog, I was drawn to understand the complex water and food scarcity issue. My mother, who spent the first nineteen years of her life in Sylhet would tell me stories about the long distances she would travel to bring water back to the home just so the family could cook and wash their dishes. Circumstances in the villages are now changing, with more access to efficient technology so people have a more reliable access to water. Of course, Bangladesh is becoming increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change which has led to difficulties.  I was keen to understand more of what was being done in different countries regarding the consequences of population growth and climate change on food security, particularly for a continent that I knew relatively little about. Through these blog posts, I was able to engage with a large variety of sources that have taught me more about the complexities and individua...
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Recent posts

Is Virtual Water Capable of Becoming Policy?

Previous blog posts have focused on more tangible methods to tackle the water and food scarcity issue, such as desalination, drip irrigation and extracting groundwater. But what if we did not have to employ these more tangible methods, and still work towards achieving food security?  Virtual water is a term coined by Allan (1997) ; it is used to address the water that is used in the production of any commodity. When this commodity is traded, water is also traded as water is embedded in the commodity (Zeitoun et al, 2010) . This applies to agricultural commodities, as the water used in the production of food staples is significant. For instance, 1,000 cubic metres of water is required to produce a ton of grain (Allan, 2003). Therefore, if it is food that is traded, virtual water can globalise the problem of water scarcity and allow countries that are facing this issue to import water intensive crops. The bluewater used for irrigated agriculture is a net drain on water resources and...
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Towards Integrated River Basin and Water Management?

As mentioned by the previous blog post, the Bakolori Dam failed to take into consideration the needs of multiple different users of the basin, whether that be the upstream, downstream or irrigation zone users. Integrated river basin and water management (IRBWM), however, seeks to manage water resources in a comprehensive and holistic way, by considering it from several different dimensions. The aims of the IRBWM are really reflected in each of the terms used. It aims to integrate all water resource demands, manage this across time and space using data across the whole basin and considering how changes to the upstream may have an impact downstream (Savenije & Van der Zaag, 2008) .  Admittedly, this does seem to be a very ambitious task, but it is something that should be committed towards resolving difficulties (Van der Zaag, 2005) , as seen in the case of the Bakolori Dam. Africa’s implementation of the IRBWM, however, has been comparatively lower than the global average. ...
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The Bakolori Dam in northwest Nigeria

Dams are barriers that can stop or restrict the flow of water. This is a particularly useful way for areas facing a period of low rainfall to store water and then release from the reservoir when needed (Perry, 2001).  The Bakolori Dam is a 5.5 km long dam on the River Sokoto of northwest Nigeria. Originally, the dam aimed to control the excessive flooding that would take place in the Lower Rima flood plain below Sokoto. A small irrigation scheme at Bakolori of 12,000 ha was a secondary interest though the dam soon stored enough water to irrigate 30,000 ha of land, as part of the Bakolori Agricultural Project (Adams, 1985) . The dam was particularly significant for the Sokoto state as the drylands would remain dry for nine months, and the river was in spate for a short, rainy season. It would make sense for a dam to capture this water so it could be used efficiently throughout the long dry season, for irrigation (Adams, 2021) .   The case of the Bakolori Dam, however, expo...
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Drip Irrigation in Morocco

Drip irrigation is another strategy that works by applying water directly to the soil surface or the root zone of plants. It is a water efficient technology as it reduces water consumption whilst increasing crop yields (Jobbins et al, 2015) . This compares to conventional flood irrigation. Comparatively, drip irrigation reduces water loss by evaporation and distribution. Drip irrigation uses 30-50% less water and achieves up to 95% irrigation efficiency (Narayanmoorthy, 2004) . Figures suggest that drip irrigation would particularly be beneficial for Moroccan farmers.  Two drip irrigation projects were implemented for farmers surrounding the Saïs basin. A farmer on the Bitit pilot project found that water supply was so efficient from the drip irrigation system, that his single owned hectare had to only be irrigated every two and a half days instead of the usual five days. Interviews with farmers showed 83% had a clear preference for drip irrigation as a response to reduced water su...
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The Souss Massa Desalination Project in Morocco

An adaptation technique to divert away from groundwater is desalination. This involves the conversion of seawater to freshwater. Firstly, the seawater is treated to remove any impurities and then is filtered through  reverse osmosis . The brine is diluted and returned to sea, whilst the freshwater goes through additional processes of remineralisation and chlorination to then be stored in tanks and distributed for consumption.  The use of desalination in Morocco is a remedy that many political and economic actors have decided to turn to, following the overexploitation of groundwater that was being used to irrigate thousands of hectares of plantations and led to an annual deficit of 60 million m3 of water (Takouleu, 2018) . An irrigation project using desalinated seawater in the Chtouka zone in the Souss Massa region was pushed forwards by the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture. The project plant has a production capacity of 111,000 m3 per day and by 2035, this will increase to 16...
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The Challenges Faced by Morocco

The next few blog posts will be situated in Morocco: a country which is highly relevant when it comes to the issues of water and food scarcity.  The challenge that Morocco faces  Morocco is a water scarce country that has a largely agricultural based economy (Jobbins et al, 2015) . The Souss-Massa region in particular is important for the socioeconomic development of the kingdom due to the expansion of the agricultural sector there (Hirich et al, 2015). In recent years already, the country has been experiencing frequent and intense droughts. Modelling shows that even in the most optimistic emission scenarios, there will be a 40% reduction in precipitation in the Chtouka Aït Baha province alone and pessimistic models show a reduction of more than 80% (Seif-Ennasr et al, 2016) . These figures are hugely problematic as a reduction in precipitation will lead to widespread water shortage that is so vital for Morocco’s large agricultural-based economy. The Chtouka Aït Baha provin...
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