Water and Food in Africa

As highlighted in the previous blog, Africa is often oversimplified into one homogenous region.   However, this is not the case.  Africa is a complex continent consisting of 54 countries with varying climates, and histories.  Damkjaer and Taylor (2017) define water scarcity as freshwater availability relative to demand, where availability depends upon place-specific climate, hydrology and abstraction capacity, and demand largely depends upon population size, agricultural and industrial needs of a specific place.  As these factors vary across the continent, so do the experiences surrounding issues of water scarcity and consequent food insecurity.  Therefore, in order to achieve the effective development of water and food resources across the continent, infrastructure needs to be place-specific – matching its surrounding climates, cultures and water requirements.  In this post, I will explore some of these intracontinental nuances, by discussing Africa’s heterogenous climate and its comp