Through the lens - A perspective on water and food in Africa

  Fig.1: Africa´s water issue is complex ( Caelus Green Room ) Let´s wrap it all up! In the past weeks I have looked at water and food in Africa from many different angles. We got to know examples from all over the continent, investigated different geographical scales: local, national and international.  To me the key conclusion is that the water issue in Africa is extremely heterogenous! There is not THE solution for THE water crisis. Africa is a continent accommodating not only many different climate zones, geological conditions and vegetation, it is also home of many different peoples, political systems, languages, customs and traditions, rural and urban, that all affect the way water can be withdrawn, accessed and used. There is no single agricultural technology to achieve food security in Africa, but rather water issues have to be tackled with using a huge variety of approaches specific to each particular context.  There are extremely dry countrie...

In previous posts I have suggested that investment in irrigation infrastructure is crucial for ensuring food security in SSA. But, infrastructure, technology and knowledge are not everything; in many African countries the great obstacle is a relict from the past. Colonial powers have long ruled over most African countries, dominating not only food production and land tenure, but also regulating who has access to water and who doesn´t.    Inspired by a post written by a fellow student , I will explore the issue of water rights based on a study conducted by van Koppen and Schreiner ( 2018 ).   Fig. 1: with the implementation of the new Water Act millions of famers use their water illegally ( The Telegraph ) The Roman Water Law Although most European countries practiced the riparian doctrine saying that water cannot be owned, when European settlers colonized Africa, they claimed water under the Roman water law ( van Koppen et.al . 2014 ). They occupied “f...