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.   ...

I was having a read through my blog this morning and I realised that over the past few weeks I might have been giving off the notion that Ethiopia is a country is facing dire physical water scarcity. However, this was the idea I was attempting to move away from at the start of my blog, that Africa isn’t the parched continent it is often believed to be. Indeed, water scarcity is generally portrayed as an issue of thirst , yet it is more often the case that financial restrictions or poor water management are ultimately responsible for a lack of water. Ethiopia is no exception and, as I’ll illustrate in this post, the necessary water needed for food production is most definitely available.  Although it is, of course, true that parts of Ethiopia receive very low levels of precipitation (see Figure 2 ), the nation as a whole is home to some of the most substantial water reserves in Africa, earning it the title of the “ water tower of Eastern Africa ”. The majority of thes...

In previous posts I have explored the climatic and demographic changes that Ethiopia is experiencing, such as declining precipitation. However, I haven’t really discussed the very real effects of Ethiopia’s fluctuating climate on the general population. In this post I’ll therefore draw attention to these often tragic impacts.   Agriculture is generally regarded as the most weather-reliant of all human activities , accordingly the effects of Ethiopia’s fluctuating climate on agricultural production is substantial. Most recently, the El Nino and Indian Ocean Dipole induced droughts (if you missed it, find my earlier post on these two natural phenomena here ) highlights this dependency, with staggering consequences for food security, despite the economic advances discussed in my last post. At the height of the El Nino-induced 2015/16 drought, in April 2016, more than 10.2 million Ethiopians became dependent on food aid . The situation has not improved into this year, with 2...

It’s occurred to me that since my decision to focus on Ethiopia I haven’t really given much general information about the country. However, I think it will be really useful for putting the challenges and possible solutions that I’ll be discussing into context. So here’s a quick background update on Ethiopia:   Despite being influenced by processes in the Indian Ocean, Ethiopia is a landlocked nation (see Figure 1 ). It has the second largest population of any African country , behind Nigeria, yet it is also one of the most poverty stricken with a per capita income of just $660 . Agriculture makes up almost  50% of the country’s GDP , most of which centres on small-scale rain-fed crops and livestock rearing, and is growing at 5% per year . Economic growth averaging 10.5% per year from 2005/6 to 2015/16 has, however, reduced extreme poverty levels from 55.3% in 2000, to 33.5% in 2011 . Alongside this, in the last 20 years Ethiopia has seen a marked improvement in a number o...

Last week , I highlighted the role that global natural phenomena play in influencing Ethiopia’s rainfall patterns. However, there are other factors putting pressure on Ethiopia’s food supply and whilst not all directly water based, it is important to have a complete understanding of the challenges facing Ethiopia’s food and water relationship. This week I’ll be looking at the impact of general warming, the long-term decline in precipitation experienced in parts of Ethiopia and the significance of the nation’s rapidly growing population.   Ethiopia, as with the rest of the globe, is experiencing anthropogenic warming and an average one-degree temperature rise is expected in the imminent future (see Figure 1 ). It is likely that this rise will result in the intensification of the natural cycles that I discussed last week, with rainfall events becoming more extreme, but less frequent, with a 40% increase in the frequency of droughts . This will exacerbate both periods of drough...