GEOG0036 Water and Development in Africa

  The demand for freshwater provision is evident across multiple African countries, with one of my earlier blog posts touching on the Virtual Water Trade as one way Kenya attempts to stabilise its needs. This week, I shall be looking at the presence of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) strategies in South Africa, exploring how the nation works to provide water and food security. According to UNESCO, IWRM is a holistic approach to water management, seeking to integrate the management of the physical environment within broader socio-economic and political frameworks. Since the 1992 World Summit on Sustainable Development, IWRM has been praised to effectively manage river basins, becoming sensitive to local ideologies and political understandings. The UN suggests that in the case of an environment which has a shortage of freshwater, specialised IWRM systems should be developed. Specifically, these should focus on drought preparedness and the need to manage food scarcity...

The country Tanzania, seated in East Africa is frequently known to Europeans and Americans as the place to spot the Big Five! However, few recognise the complexities of the Tanzanian climate, perceiving it solely for its commercial value within the tourist industry. The image typically associated with Tanzania - beautiful scenery.  Often overlooked and discouraged, wetlands provide valuable contributions to human life. This is particularly evident in Tanzania, where although they make up less than 10% of the land, their presence helps sustain 95% of the country’s wildlife and livestock.  The wetlands of the Usangu Plains, situated in the headwaters of the Great Ruaha River are the most valuable freshwater resource for Tanzania.   However,  the ecosystem is particularly susceptible to climate variations and primarily used for irrigation of agriculture, causing heavy water abstraction. This has resulted in falling ground water tables, dried up connecting tributarie...

Productivity, equitability and sustainability. Three factors which should be addressed when discussing the development of a new product or infrastructure. These notions are therefore applicable for analysing the costs and benefits of genetically modified (GM) crops in Ethiopia which I will be discussing this week following on from my last post. At a first glance, the main use of GM crops is to provide a solution for food insecurity and hunger, increasing food consumption in countries which struggle to provide for their communities. For Ethiopia, most a farmers are identified as subsistence (produce crops or raise livestock adequate for only their personal consumption, with no involvement trading or selling their goods) or otherwise known as peasant farmers. With around 12 million peasant farmers in Ethiopia , boosting productivity is one of their main goals. GM crops offer a way to do this by reducing the chances of a harvest being lost due to pesticides, freeing up more money for far...

Defining the concept of a drought is particularly complex, there are multiple variables including hydrological, geomorphic, social, and ecological factors which influence and vary per location, creating the possibility of numerous climatic and societal conditions which can trigger a drought. In saying this, there is a central element which is noted when defining a drought – a prolonged deficit in precipitation, often spanning over a seasonal period. What comes with this is typically low humidity and high temperatures.   Specifically for Ethiopia, the principal drivers for drought are due to large-scale climate variability which in return impact the macro-scale pressure systems and circulating atmospheric dynamics in the region . There are suggestions of how tropical cyclones which develop in the Southwest Indian Ocean can indirectly impact weather patterns in Ethiopia during periods of depressions (these depressions coincide with times of drought). Furthermore, during periods of E...