Water and Food in Africa: Problems or Potential?

Last week I touched upon large-scale engineering as a method of utilising, or even controlling, the water resources within Ethiopia in the form the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Whilst  not   directly relating to Ethiopian food production, it got me thinking about the role of engineering in improving Ethiopia’s agricultural output. Consequently, I’ve been doing some digging around the potential for groundwater extraction to supply water for irrigation. In this post I’ll therefore be taking a more in-depth look at groundwater resources within Ethiopia.   When I started looking at groundwater in Africa, I realised more than ever that most of Africa is definitely not just a ‘dry’ continent. Indeed, Africa’s groundwater reservoirs could hold up to 100 times more water than is available at the surface. In Asia, especially post-Green Revolution, groundwater has been instrumental in supporting increased agricultural production. Yet, although some regions in Sub-...

Last week I discussed irrigation as the primary way in which Egypt employs its available water resources (The River Nile) for food production. The Nile is evidently an instrumental part of Egypt’s food security. Interestingly, 86% of the water being used for irrigation in Egypt actually originates in Ethiopia , a perverse irony that, as I’ve previously highlighted , leaves Ethiopia with chronic food insecurity. The majority of this water comes from the Blue Nile, a river which travels 1000 kilometres through Ethiopia , largely untouched and certainly under-utilised, before eventually reaching Egypt. Figure 1 broadly illustrates this progression of water from Ethiopia to Egypt, diminishing significantly once it flows outside of Ethiopia’s borders (it is important to recognise that although agriculutral extraction is important, it is not the sole cause of this, there is a host of contributing factors such as groundwater recharge, evaporation and industrial use). Ultimately a lthough E...

Last week I hope I illustrated how Ethiopia does have plentiful surface water resources, at least for part of the year, despite what I may have been pointing to in previous posts. However, this raises the question as to why, with plentiful fertile soils and bountiful rainfall, Ethiopia so often treads the line between food insecurity and famine. There are of course complications that prevent agricultural production, such as extreme topography. Yet with over 124 billion cubic metres (BCM) of river water and around  4 million hectares of potentially irrigable land (depending on the information source), it is perhaps surprising that even during years with good rains Ethiopia cannot produce enough food for its growing population. Through a comparison with Egypt, a nation which, despite having three times less arable land than Ethiopia , achieves near-continuos food security , some of the possible solutions to Ethiopia’s water and food problems become apparent.   ...