Water and Food

Besides the impact of water scarcity mentioned in the previous blog, another major impact of water scarcity is food insecurity. Water is key to food security. In fact, food security literally depends on water security.  Agriculture requires a lot of water for production of both livestock and crops. Agriculture uses 80% of water in the world while only 10% is spent on other domestic issues (Werner & Besada 2013) . Planning for future food security requires analyzing water resource issues and land use. Water plays a very crucial role in food security, providing the basis for human well-being and healthy eco-systems. The relationship between food and water production is important for creation of sustainable and resilient food systems same as the relationship between the ecosystem and humans is core. All living creatures depend on the ecosystem and without proper ecological conditions; aquatic life such as fish which is food for human beings is also affected. The world and especial...

As shown in the previous blog through the water scarcity index, water scarcity is a big challenge in Africa.   Water scarcity affects more than 748 million people worldwide; Sub-Saharan Africa has been the most affected. One of the major poverty causes in Africa has been the lack of basic resources such as clean, safe and properly sanitized water. Destruction of river catchments and increased pollution has contributed to water crisis in Africa. Some of the causes of water scarcity in Africa have been discussed below; Climatic Change ; There has been climatic   climate change in Africa which has led to a change in rainfall patterns leading to worse water security, changed rainfall patterns affecting agriculture and reducing food security and generally rising water stress. The growing population has really worsened the water crisis in Africa placing more pressure on the available water resources. 41% of the global population today live in river basins that are experiencing w...

  As state in the previous blog, water shortage has emerged as one of the biggest limitations on industrial and human development in Africa; It ranks one of the top three global risk concerns with almost four billion people facing severe water scarcity (Mekonnen and Hoekstra, 2016) and according to the World Economic Forum, water crisis a problem in all African countries at all levels. Despite some countries having high availability of water in Africa, the unpredictable and low water supply in comparison with the high demand and poor use of available water resources label Africa a water constrained continent. This blog will explain more on water scarcity index in Africa. A Swedish hydrologist (Frankerman, 1986) , came up with a water measuring index that mainly measures the levels of water stress. This method includes the total freshwater resources in a given population and the area’s population. According to this measure, if fresh water is below 1700cubic meters per person per ...