Water & Food in Africa (a general introduction)
Living in an urban city, access to clean water has never been a problem for me. However, due to a recent pipe fixing around the neighbourhood, there was no water for 24 hours. Within these 24 hours, I cannot wash dishes, take showers, and, most importantly, I cannot flush my toilet. After a horrible day, I have realized in my daily life; I seem to take access to water for granted and never thought that some people living in the rest of the world are suffering because there is not enough clean water for them to access.
According to UNESCO, access to water and sanitation is recognized as a human right. However, more than 2 billion people lack even the most basic services. However, despite significant progress over the past 15 years, this goal remains unattainable for most of the world's population. In 2015, three out of 10 people (2.1 billion) did not have access to safe drinking water, and six out of 10 people (4.5 billion) did not have access to safety-managed sanitation facilities. (UNESCO) Not being able to access clean water or water shortage will result in a series of negative impacts on food supply and cause a food security problem. In this blog, I will mainly focus on the Water and Food security problem in Africa.
Photo Credit: UN-HABITAT
The picture above shows three children were carrying water for their family. Based on the picture, we can see no crops on the land; weeds were overgrown; meanwhile, the children were way too skinny. This picture reveals several problems in Africa; the poor accessibility of clean water, not enough hygiene for kids or everyone.
One of the reason African were suffering may because its population explosion, which exceeds the continent its self’s capacity. Africa has one of the highest population growth rates. By 2050, more than 50% of the global population growth is expected to occur in Africa (United Nations). Of course, this is not the only reason causing water and food shortage problem. In this blog, I will explore some issues solutions to water and food problems in Africa.
This is a really nice and simple introduction to Water and Food in Africa! I liked the personalised start, followed by some well laid out statistics of the current water situation first worldwide, and then focusing on Africa. I'm looking forward to the blogs on solutions, will you be exploring more top-down or bottom-up approaches?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lana, I really like how you started your blog. It makes for a compelling article. Perhaps think about ways that you could include more peer reviewed articles in your text. Also, you could make your argument stronger by returning to the scenario at the start to provide a sentence or two with some reflections on what you covered.
ReplyDeleteI would really encourage you to continue to post on a regular basis! I am really looking forward to reading more.
I've enjoyed this introduction, i think you have planned out your argument well and how you spoke about the wider issue and then focussed on Africa.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading the rest!