Hello!
Welcome to my blog! I have always wanted to start a blog but I had never gone down to it until now. Just to let you
know, this blog is part of a module I’m taking this year called “Water and
development in Africa”. Throughout this blog I expect to enlarge my
understanding (and hopefully yours too) of the fundamental interconnections
between the water-food-energy nexus in sub-Saharan Africa. I will be addressing the
challenges these areas are currently facing and will face in the future, as well
as analysing possible solutions regarding the water-energy-food nexus.
What is the water-energy-food
nexus and why does it matter?
Commercial climate: https://climatecommercial.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/in-focus-water-energy-food-nexus-report/
The water-food-energy nexus is an approach
to sustainable development that maintains that water, energy and food security
can only be achieved if we look at the system considering the interlinks
between water, energy and land as oppose to treating them independently.
The diagram above describes the whole
system in which the nexus is integrated. Looking at the global trends we can
predict that the world population and the urbanisation rate will continue to
grow. Consequently, this will accelerate the demand for food that will be supplied by an agricultural sector challenged by the change in weather
patterns due to the climate change. At the same time, while economies grow and
cities expand, the demand for safe water by industrial and energy systems will
also increase (
The unsustainable use of water that has
defined our system until now has to change in order to guarantee the access to
safe water to every sector. Making an efficient use of the
available water resources to create more with less and doing it in a sustainable
manner will guarantee the water supply, food and energy security in the future. No
one has said is an easy task. It will need the collaboration of research, economic analysis and policy formulation to confront the
challenging future (Waughray, 2011). Both, the public and the private sector,
play a vital role in this approach. They need to work together to improve the
management of these three sectors and to find solutions to the problems
before its too late.
Looking
closer into Sub-Saharan Africa
In order to recognise the challenges Sub-Saharan
Africa is facing, first it is important to describe the current situation for
each sector separately:
--> Domestic water demand: It corresponds to the water use for
fulfilling households’ needs and municipal and commercial activities. Urban
households normally have access to water gained from reservoirs and delivered
by piped systems. Rural households generally collect water from individual
sources such as rainfall, springs and boreholes (Thompson, 2010). Even though urban households
have access to piped systems, they are not completely reliable thus they use
supplementary individual sources to meet their needs. The share of domestic
water use corresponds to 13% of the overall water use*.
--> Water use for energy production: The water use for energy production is very
high compared to the energy they actually produce. This is due to the high share of
energy that comes from traditional biomass. (World
energy council, 2010). Overall, the industry sector uses 13% of the total
water use*.
--> Water use for agriculture: Currently only 5% of all the cropland in
Africa is irrigated but small-scale irrigation systems including ground water
irrigation is the most rapidly expanding type of irrigation in Africa (Taylor,
2004). At this time, the total area for ground water irrigation use
represents 20% of total irrigated area (Villholth, 2013) and the share of water
for agricultural use is of 69%*.
How is this expected to change?
--> Domestic water demand: The population in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to increase and therefore the water demand will increase with it. Even though cities are expected to keep increasing their population, evidence shows that rural population will keep having an important role in sub-Saharan countries. As a consequences, both rural and urban water demand are expected to keep rising.
--> Water use for energy production: As population increases and countries continue developing economically, energy demand will rise as well and therefore this will increment the quantity of water needed to produce the energy in order to satisfy the demand.
--> Water use for agriculture: "FAO estimates that food demands in sub-Saharan Africa alone will more than triple between 2000 and 2050 in response to increased population and improved diets" (FAO, 2011). To satisfy this demand, water use for this sector will need to increase as well.
To conclude, increasing water demand needs to be met in the context of an uncertain future due to the effect of climate change. The extend to which it will be met will depend on the efforts we currently put into this challenge. I believe bringing new sustainable and interconnected approaches into the picture is probably the most thoughtful pathway society as a whole should follow.
--> Domestic water demand: The population in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to increase and therefore the water demand will increase with it. Even though cities are expected to keep increasing their population, evidence shows that rural population will keep having an important role in sub-Saharan countries. As a consequences, both rural and urban water demand are expected to keep rising.
--> Water use for energy production: As population increases and countries continue developing economically, energy demand will rise as well and therefore this will increment the quantity of water needed to produce the energy in order to satisfy the demand.
--> Water use for agriculture: "FAO estimates that food demands in sub-Saharan Africa alone will more than triple between 2000 and 2050 in response to increased population and improved diets" (FAO, 2011). To satisfy this demand, water use for this sector will need to increase as well.
To conclude, increasing water demand needs to be met in the context of an uncertain future due to the effect of climate change. The extend to which it will be met will depend on the efforts we currently put into this challenge. I believe bringing new sustainable and interconnected approaches into the picture is probably the most thoughtful pathway society as a whole should follow.
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN, 2011. Water for agriculture and energy in Africa. The challenges of climate change. [pdf] Available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2345e/i2345e.pdf [Accessed 13 October 2016]
Taylor, R.G., 2004. Water Resources and development challenges in eastern and southern Africa . In: T. Bowyer-Bower and D. Potts (Eds.), East and Southern Africa . Regional Development Text, RGS-IBG Developing Areas Research Group, Addison-Wesley Longman (London), Chapter 7, pp. 198-228.
Taylor, R.G., 2004. Water Resources and development challenges in eastern and southern Africa . In: T. Bowyer-Bower and D. Potts (Eds.), East and Southern Africa . Regional Development Text, RGS-IBG Developing Areas Research Group, Addison-Wesley Longman (London), Chapter 7, pp. 198-228.
Thompson, J. et
al., 2000. Waiting at the tap: changes in urban water use in East Africa over
three decades. Environment and Urbanisation, Vol. 12(2), pp. 37-52.
Villholth, K.,
2013. Groundwater irrigation for smallholders in Sub-Saharan Africa – a
synthesis of current knowledge to guide sustainable outcomes. Water
International,
Vol. 38, 369-391.
Waughray, D., 2011. Water security: the
water-food-energy-climate nexus. The
World Economic Forum water initiative. Washington DC: Island Press
World Energy Council, 2010. Water for
energy. [pdf]. Available at:
https://www.worldenergy.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/PUB_Water_For_Energy_2010_WEC.pdf
[Accessed 13 October 2016]
*Domestic water use data from powerpoint
of lecture 2: water use & provision
A strong start to your blogging!
ResponderEliminar