Water and Food in Africa

Senegal, located in West Africa, is home to extensive wetlands and lakes as well as four major aquifer systems ( Faye et al., 2019 ). Despite this apparent abundance of water sources, Senegal faces a water crisis. During the dry season, water becomes   scarce and Senegal has been unable to effectively tap into its groundwater to increase agricultural irrigation. Predictions indicate a   30-60% increase in water demand by 2035 , exacerbating water scarcity and hindering Senegal’s ability to support its growing urban population. Figure 1:  Senegal is a tropical coastal Africa nation with Dakar as its capital Irrigation is often heralded as Africa’s solution to food scarcity and with only   3-5%   of Senegal’s land being cultivated by irrigation, irrigation projects could be the solution to its water and food crisis. In this blog post, I explore the opportunities and challenges that irrigation presents to Senegal, concluding with my proposed solutions to the nat...

According to the United Nations, a region experiences  famine when a significant proportion of the population are unable to access adequate food, leading to widespread malnutrition, disease and death. Figure 1: The five phases of the International Food Security Phase Classification system Famines in East Africa can be explained by both climate-related and anthropogenic causes and in this blog post, I will examine the contributing factors to famine in the HOA to determine which factor is more significant. Environmental Factors: Water Scarcity and Climate Change For thousands of years, the Horn of Africa (HOA), composed of Africa’s easternmost nations including Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya, has experienced recurrent famines. An unprecedented La Niña   weather event in 2022 recently brought prolonged heat waves and famine to the area. The drought had a devastating impact on local populations with pastoralists being particularly vulnerable to water scarcity. Kenyan pastoralists ...

Water and Food in Africa is an interdisciplinary blog dedicated to discussing the most topical debates at the intersection of the water and food security fields. My interest in water and food in Africa stems from my Ghanaian heritage and family conversations about the pressing water and food insecurity issues in Ghana. With 1 in 3 Africans currently experiencing water scarcity and nearly 400 million Africans lacking access to basic drinking water, water and food insecurity in Africa persist as topical issues among native and global communities. What is Water Scarcity? Areas experiencing water scarcity can be categorised as either being physically or economically water scarce. Physical water scarcity occurs when more than 75% of river flows in a country are withdrawn for domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes and the country cannot meet future water demands after accounting for its adaptive capacity (Damkjaer and Taylor, 2017) .   Regions including the Middle East and Nor...