Water and Food in Africa

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 can

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.  Figure 1