Water and Food

Sadly, this will be my last post, I want to use it to wrap up my ideas around what I have written down for the past few weeks. Before I chose this thematic area to talk about, I had a very limited information about Africa. Living in a modern city makes me lose sight of the fact that there are still many people living in the shadow without basic necessities. When I touched this thematic area, I am aware the problems existing in Africa whether is natural or man-made; I am aware the cause of its resource’s scarcity and horrible consequence.   However, at the same time, I saw its potential; advanced modern technology and effective management policies will help solve Africa's existing water and food shortages. Despite the difficulties of implementing them, I remain hopeful about the future of Africa. See you next time.

  In previous posts on this blog, I have explored some solutions to the water scarcity and food insecurity problem in Africa. These solutions include water conservation through erosion control, adopting geo-mapping technology to aid borehole-drilling, investment in irrigation, and technology adoption in water distribution. This post will address some of the challenges faced in managing the water and food problem in Africa Allocation Historically, the problem of water scarcity in Africa has been more severe in the rural areas of Africa. Research on water scarcity has also predominantly focused on the challenges faced by those in rural areas in gaining access to clean. Allocation is a significant challenge in the management of water scarcity with authorities faced with the decision of how to distribute the scarce resource across a rapidly expanding population within their countries. An emerging trend concerning allocation is worsening situation involving the quality and availab...

  While the use of technology for geo-mapping and irrigation schemes can provide a long-term solution for water scarcity and food shortages in Africa, it is significant to note that Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) is neither a solution nor a recipe, but rather a perspective or way of looking at problems with a view to solving them through transparent and inclusive decision-making processes; and that IWRM should explicitly deal with the fact that water tends to build asymmetrical relationships between people, communities and nations.” ( van der Zaag, 2005 ). Conservation is a noble effort that has to take the form of genuine concern for country and the environment as a whole. But most importantly, conservation of natural water sources allows for availability of water that will drive the health, mortality and success of Africa ( van der Zaag, 2005 ). Crucially, this conserved water has the potential to serve several purposes including but not limited to, production of ...

  Groundwater is an essential part of the hydrological ecosystem as it forms the main source for consistent water flow through rivers, streams and lakes. Moreover, this water flow also forms the basis for habitation of most plants and animals in the natural environment ( Gaye & Tindimugaya, 2018 ) . In order to efficiently source, harness and distribute groundwater for human consumption in Africa, cost-effective solutions are key components that must be availed to countries experiencing water scarcity in Africa. Technology is vital at every step of the water harnessing process. To begin with, geo-mapping tools must be used to map areas that have plentiful supplies of ground and most importantly, underground water reserves. Due to climate change and the resulting increase in global temperatures, surface flow of groundwater has significantly been depleted. This has been exacerbated by pollution, environmental degradation and over-dependence by the mass population African countr...