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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 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!

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