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 individualities of different countries within Africa, and hopefully steer away from the sweeping generalisations that are often made as described by Wainana (2019). I am grateful to have learnt more about the different possibilities to address the water and food scarcity issue and being able to not be overly pessimistic or optimistic about strategies, though rather focus on them through context. Evidently, there is no one tactic that can be employed across a diverse continent. Though, this is what makes IWRM the most favourable as it includes water use beyond agriculture and considers vital issues such as sanitation and industry, which virtual water particularly fails to do.

I hope you have enjoyed reading these blog posts as much as I have enjoyed researching and writing them. I have undoubtedly been inspired to continue to learn more about water and food in Africa for the time to come!

Comments

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 can

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. Figure 1

The Potential of Using Groundwater

The potential of groundwater Groundwater has received much recent attention due its potential to meet the increasing demand for water, particularly for those who do not have surface waters nearby. Whilst Asia has a long tradition of groundwater use for agriculture (30% of rural households in China and 50% in India may be using groundwater for crop production) (Giordano, 2006) , could Africa also divert towards this? Comparatively, only 1.5% of rural households in Africa use groundwater for crop production, so evidently figures show that Africa has missed this ‘groundwater revolution’. Groundwater is of drinkable quality, thus does not need excessive or expensive treatment, and when in demand allows scaled development with infrastructure that is of lower cost compared to surface water infrastructure (Taylor et al, 2009) . Groundwater is a way to take advantage of the changes induced by climate change, such as the increased variability of surface water resources and soil moisture. Evide

Water and Food in Africa

Search This Blog