Too Late To Irrigate?

In order to reduce the most prevalent problem of economic water scarcity throughout the African continent, countries can invest in infrastructure development to reduce vulnerability to seasonal fluctuations in water supply (Molden et al. 2007). Irrigation schemes may provide the answer for countries to improve their adaptive capacity and reduce their vulnerability to droughts and floods (ibid).  The importance of irrigation is highlighted by Molden et al. (2007) who call for irrigation efficiency potential and enhanced water management as a proxy for a country’s adaptive capacity.

Irrigation is defined as the ‘artificial application of water to soil, in the correct amounts and frequency, for optimal soil infiltration and plant growth’ (CLWA2017). However, there are different types of irrigation schemes which countries can adopt at various scales (Sullivan and Pittock 2014). After summarising the brief history of irrigation in Africa, the next few blog posts will aim to provide information to help African governments to make an informed decision as to which form of irrigation they should invest in, to improve food security. Food security is reached ‘when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life’ (ibid: 1).  

A Brief History

From 1963 to 2000, Africa was the only continent that did not experience greater growth in food production than population, even though food production grew at a faster rate in developing countries than in developed countries (Molden et al. 2007). One reason for this were the substantial investments in irrigation schemes which allowed crop yields to flourish (ibid). For example, it was not uncommon for irrigation investment to account for over half of the agricultural budgets of several countries throughout Asia (ibid).

Figure 1: Slow growth for Africa's irrigation. (Molden et al. 2007)

However, Sub-Saharan Africa has taken a back seat in the global irrigation story and is late to the game (see Figure 1). But is Africa late? My use of the word ‘late’ questionably implies that Africa should also follow the same path as Asia and irrigate a greater percentage of its land. After all, 70% of global irrigated land is in Asia, and Africa could grab a share of this percentage (ibid; see Figure 1). However, having been inspired by postcolonial literature such as Escobar (1995) and Kothari (2005) in my second year ‘Development Geography’ course, I would like to critically examine this linear trajectory of development and modernisation. To what extent are large scale irrigation projects and dams a neo-colonial project (Kothari 2005)? And have irrigation schemes improved food security?

Large Scale Irrigation and Dams

As you may already be aware, there are a range of negative impacts of dams which include environmental degradation and the involuntary resettlement of local populations. I wish I could discuss all the impacts in this blog post but within development literature, it is widely accepted that large scale, top-down infrastructure projects have generally been unsuccessful due to the numerous negative environmental impacts and lower than expected economic benefits (Adams 2014; Adams 1990). These schemes, funded by the World Bank and other bilateral and multilateral aid donors, can be seen as ‘cultural interventions’ on how Africa manages its natural resources (Adams 2014: 9). Despite the repeated failings of larger scale projects, Africa remains adamant to focus on expanding these projects in the future (ibid).

For example, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country which is currently experiencing economic water scarcity, is set to construct the world’s biggest dam – The Inga 3 Dam (GCR 2017). With earliest completion dates expected in 2024, the $14bn dam has potential to generate 12GW of electricity (ibid). However, I was curious to find out how this would specifically affect DRCs food production. Upon further research, I realised that this dam was being built specifically for hydroelectric purposes. However, the case study is still relevant because even though electricity is an output, the opportunity cost is losing agricultural land; creating a reservoir would flood the Bundi Valley, seriously impacting local ecosystems (International Rivers 2017). Investigating further, I wondered if the dam could ever be used for irrigation in the future, once the infrastructure was in place. Because this is not a multipurpose dam, it is unlikely that the function will be changed in the future once the dam becomes an integral part of the energy mix in DRC.

Dams built solely for irrigation purposes include the High Aswan Dam, which has a stunning reservoir capacity of 162 billion m³ (FAO 2007). The Sennar Dam in Sudan is also built for irrigation and provides water for the Gezira-Managil scheme (ibid). The scheme, built in 1925 to support crops such as cotton, has had low performance with yields since 1993 and has experienced poor efficiency levels compared to similar irrigation schemes (Eldaw 2004; Al-Zayed et al. 2015). Once again, this dam was not primarily supporting the production of food, a resource that the continent is currently desperate for. However, a recent revamp of the scheme (in 2013) run by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has aimed to promote the production of rice (CFI 2013). The government aims to fulfil and surpass the domestic annual rice demand of 50,000 tonnes to then earn revenue from exports (ibid). Constructing an irrigation dam is more flexible as the water can be used for multiple purposes; the purpose can change again in the future as needs evolve.

Conclusion

The World Commission of Dams was set up to critically review the impact of large scale dams globally; the commission had a strong verdict which highlighted that the ‘lack of equity in the distribution of benefits’ was a significant reason to consider alternatives for meeting water and energy targets (Strobl and Strobl 2011: 433). Therefore, should Africa’s focus be shifted onto increasing smaller scale irrigation schemes?

List of References

Adams, W. M. (1990) ‘How beautiful is small? Scale, control and success in Kenyan irrigation’, World development, 18, 10, 1309-1323.

Adams, W. M. (2014) Wasting the Rain (Routledge Revivals): Rivers, People and Planning in Africa, London: Routledge.

Al Zayed, I. S., N. A. Elagib, L. Ribbe and J. Heinrich (2015) ‘Spatio-temporal performance of large-scale Gezira Irrigation Scheme, Sudan’, Agricultural Systems, 133, 131-142.

CFI (2013) ‘Revamping the Gezira Scheme: Sudan Seeks Food Security with Rice’ (WWW) (http://cfi.co/africa/2013/08/revamping-the-gezira-scheme-sudan-seeks-food-security-with-rice/; accessed 30/10/2017).

CLWA (2017) ‘What is irrigation and why is it important?’ (WWW) (https://clwa.org/water-news/what-is-irrigation-and-why-is-it-important; accessed 30/10/2017).

Eldaw, A. M. (2004) The Gezira Scheme: perspectives for sustainable development, German Development Institute.

Escobar, A. (1995). Encountering development: The making and unmaking of the Third World, Princeton University Press.

FAO (2007) Dams and Agriculture in Africa, AQUASTAT Programme

GCR (2017) ‘DR Congo’s Inga 3 dam to double in size to 12GW’ (WWW) (http://www.globalconstructionreview.com/news/dr-congos-inga-3-dam-double-size-12gw/; accessed 30/10/2017).

International Rivers (2017) ‘Grand Inga Dam, DR Congo’ (WWW) (https://www.internationalrivers.org/campaigns/grand-inga-dam-dr-congo; accessed 30/10/2017).

Kothari, U. (2005) ‘From colonial administration to development studies: a post-colonial critique of the history of development studies’, in U. Kothari (ed.) A radical history of development studies: Individuals, institutions and ideologies, London: Zed Books, 47-66.

Molden, D., K. Frenken, R. Barker, C. D. Fraiture, B. Mati, M. Svendsen, ... and A. Inocencio (2007) ‘Trends in water and agricultural development’, in D. Molden (ed.) Water for food, water for life : a comprehensive assessment of water management in agriculture, London: Earthscan, 57-89.

Strobl, E. and R. O. Strobl (2011) ‘The distributional impact of large dams: Evidence from cropland productivity in Africa’, Journal of development Economics, 96, 2, 432-450.

Sullivan, A. and J. Pittock (2014) ‘Agricultural policies and irrigation in Africa. Water, food and agricultural sustainability in Southern Africa’, in J. Pittock, R. Q. Grafton and C. White (eds.) Water, food and agricultural sustainability in Southern Africa, Prahran: Tilde, 30-54.

Adaptive Capacity

In my previous blog post, I mentioned the concept of adaptive capacity and how different maps of water scarcity in Africa had different meanings and limitations.

Figure 1: Two differing water scarcity maps of Africa (Damkjaer and Taylor 2017).

LEFT – Falkenmark Indicator

RIGHT - Physical and economic water scarcity

The map on the left in Figure 1 could be argued to be less meaningful than the map on the right, as the latter incorporates the concept of adaptive capacity. If the country will not be able to meet future demands, having considered its adaptive capacity, and it currently withdraws more than 75% of river discharge for domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes, it is said to be physically scarce (Damkjaer and Taylor 2017). Economic water scarcity is when a country actually has an adequate source of water but the local population are unable to access it due to a lack of infrastructure investment or corruption (Liu et al. 2017). I find the concept of economic water scarcity disturbing as the water is there but it is unable to be accessed. I hope you can now see why the Falkenmark Indicator in Figure 1 distorts the story in Africa; even though areas stretching from the Sahel regions to central Africa have over 1700 cubic metres per capita per year (defined as no stress), the map hides more disturbing problems in countries such as Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo.

Remarkably, one category is entirely missing from the key in the physical and economic water scarcity map in Figure 1. In an international context as shown by Figure 2, many countries in the developing world have ‘little or no water scarcity’ where less than 25% of water from rivers are withdrawn (Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture 2007). Even though the Brandt line is an outdated concept, it is evident in Figure 2 with the exception of South America. 

Figure 2: Physical and economic water scarcity internationally (Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture 2007)

Up until this point, I have endeavoured to unpack and decipher the complex story of Africa’s water struggle which has impacted its food security, especially in the ever more complex threat from climate change. In subsequent blog posts, I will be exploring the numerous options to improve Africa’s adaptive capacity.

List of References

Damkjaer, S. and R. G. Taylor (2017) ‘The measurement of water scarcity: defining a meaningful indicator’, Ambio, 46, 513-531.

Liu, J., H. Yang and S. N. Gosling and M. Kummu and M. Flörke, S. Pfister, ... and Alcamo, J. (2017) ‘Water scarcity assessments in the past, present and future’, Earth's Future, 5, 6, 545-559.

Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture (2007) Water for Food, Water for Life: A Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture, London: Earthscan, and Colombo: International Water Management Institute.

Misconceptions

Even though most of us know that water is an integral part of food production, many of us are not aware of the relationship between water scarcity and food security. Why is water so fundamental? Before proceeding onto later blog posts, I would like to remove the many misconceptions about water and food that we may have.

Initially, before starting my geography degree at university, I would stare into the depths of the ocean whenever I visited the beach and I would ponder why countries could not access this water for drinking and why so many areas had water shortages. After all, our earth’s hydrosphere contains 1386 million cubic kilometres of water; it is the most widespread substance on our planet (Shiklomanov 1998).  Most importantly however, only 2.5% of this is freshwater and 97.5% is saline (ibid). To make matters worse, from the little freshwater available, 68.7% of it is locked up as ice in the Arctic and Antarctic regions (ibid). The distribution, state and salinity of the water are all factors shaping who has access to water.

Exponential population growth has been significant in shaping the demand for water throughout our world. As the world’s population grew between 1970 and 1994, it was estimated that the potential water available per person per year fell from 12.9 down to 7.6 thousand cubic metres (ibid). This statistic is all the more relevant for my blog’s focus on Africa, as the continent experienced the greatest reduction in population water supply throughout this time (ibid).

Water Scarcity

I hope the above information sheds some light onto the weight and relevance of the word ‘scarce’ when we are talking about water scarcity and why such an indicator is necessary. Water scarcity can be broadly defined as the ‘shortage in the availability of renewable freshwater relative to demand’ (Damkjaer and Taylor 2017: 513). However, there have been attempts at designing a more robust metric. The Water Stress Index (WSI) developed in the 1970s and 80s defined water scarcity as ‘the number of people that compete to be sustained by a single flow unit of water’ (ibid: 514). The Water Stress Index proposed by Falkenmark in 1989 evaluated the thresholds at which different levels of scarcity occurred (Brown and Matlock 2011). 

Table 1: The Water Stress Index (Brown and Matlock 2011).

Table 1 outlines these thresholds; a country which is only able to supply under 500m³ of water per person per year is said to be experiencing ‘absolute scarcity’. It has been a popular indicator and has been widely used because it is easy to calculate and interpret (Herath et. al. 2010; Gleick et al. 2002).

Figure 1: A map of water scarcity in Africa in 2014, using the Water Stress Index (Damkjaer and Taylor 2017). 

Let’s take a moment to observe Africa as a whole. Figure 1 highlights an interesting distribution of freshwater, whereby countries towards the north and south are experiencing greater water scarcity such as South Africa, Libya and Algeria. However, when compared to other indexes of water scarcity, whether this data is meaningful falls under question (Damkjaer and Taylor 2017). This is because the Water Stress Index proposed by Falkenmark has a number of major limitations; the values are skewed due to spatial and temporal factors.

Limitations:

• The values are national annual averages which means that unique data at regional levels on a smaller scale has been ignored (Brown and Matlock 2011).
• The annual average will ignore any seasonal variation which is significant due to the dry and wet seasons caused by the ITCZ in the area.
• The thresholds themselves are too simple as they ignore cultural and lifestyle differences, which will mean demand will vary from country to country (Rijsberman 2006).
• Leading from the above limitation, these thresholds are static and do not represent the changing dynamics and demands of the future, as our technology advances (Brown and Matlock 2011).
• Artificial water supplies from desalination plants are overlooked (Damkjaer and Taylor 2017).

An indicator which attempts to resolve these limitations, by taking artificial sources into consideration for example, is physical and economic water scarcity (Damkjaer and Taylor 2017). Adaptive capacity, a concept which will be explored in greater depth in my next blog post, is what determines whether a country is economically scare or physically scarce. There are many other metrics to be aware of, some of which are holistic:

• Social Water Stress Index
• Agricultural Water Poverty Index
• Basic Human Needs Index
• Water Poverty Index
• Watershed Sustainability Index
• Canadian Water Sustainability Index

We’ve talked about water scarcity at varying scales, but what can we do on a domestic scale to help reduce water scarcity? Continuing on with our discussion about misconceptions, this excellent short video produced by TED-Ed highlights the fact that domestic water use only counts for 8% of water consumption. So having shorter showers and turning off the tap whilst brushing your teeth is not enough to solve the global problem. 

Another widely held misconception is that most of our water is used for the purpose of drinking. In fact, as discussed in the video, agriculture is the biggest consumer of water which accounts for 70% of all withdrawals (FAO 2011). Even though a lack of access to clean drinking water is a major problem in Africa, on average a person is only required to drink 2-4 litres a day. This is compared to the 2,000 to 5,000 litres of water required to produce a person’s daily food intake (ibid).

This blog post is necessary in order to put my future blog posts into context. Hopefully I’ve given you much food for thought, no pun intended. 

List of references

Brown, A. and M. D. Matlock (2011) ‘A review of water scarcity indices and methodologies’, White paper, 106, 19.

Damkjaer, S. and R. G. Taylor (2017) ‘The measurement of water scarcity: defining a meaningful indicator’, Ambio, 46, 513-531.

FAO (2011) Water at a Glance: The relationship between water, agriculture, food security and poverty.

Gleick, P. H. Chalecki and A. Wong (2002) ‘Measuring Water Well Being: Water Indicators and Indices’, in P. H. Gleick, W. C. G. Burns, E. L. Chalecki, M. Cohen, K. K. Cushing, A. S. Mann, R. Reyes, G. H. Wolff and A. K. Wong (eds.), The world's water, 2002-2003: the biennial report on freshwater resources, London: Island Press, 87-112.

Herath, I. K., B. Clothier, and D. Horne (2010) Indices of the status of freshwater resources for impact analyses, in: Proceedings of the 19th World Congress of Soil Science, Soil Solutions for a Changing World, Brisbane, Australia, 1–6.

Rijsberman, F. R. (2006) ‘Water scarcity: Fact or Fiction?’, Agricultural Water Management, 80, 5-22.

Shiklomanov, I. A. (1998) World water resources. A new appraisal and assessment for the 21st century, Milton Keynes: UNESCO.

Closer to Home

Welcome to my new blog, Droughts & Floods. Droughts & Floods is my personal platform to develop my perspectives on the topic of water and food in the African continent.

Water is an issue that is close to my heart and is a matter which is much closer to home than we think. A lack of sufficient water affects us in many ways and has impacts on us that we do not realise. Droughts and floods are not only experienced in Africa but also in the UK, as seen in dramatic events such as the 2009 Cumbrian floods, which left over 1000 homes without power (BBC 2009). I have also experienced hose pipe bans in London, which has meant that water scarcity has hit closer to home. 

My mother often shares stories about her life in rural northern Sri Lanka. She would have to wake up at 5 o’clock in the morning and travel to her local well with the other village girls to collect water before school. Having grown up in the UK however, there is a sense that water is in abundance as we take water for granted from our taps. Hearing stores from my parents about village life in Sri Lanka has instilled the value of water from such a young age. My father would also share stories about difficult living conditions in war-torn Sri Lanka, where going to bed hungry was not uncommon. 

Figure 1: My grandmother cooking for her family and children

Figure 2: My grandmother utilised indigenous knowledge whilst farming

Figure 3: A reservoir near my father's house in Sri Lanka

Figure 4: The local villagers enjoying water

Figure 5: My grandmother hard at work

Figure 6: My mother collecting water from a local well in rural Sri Lanka

You’re probably wondering why I’m sharing these family photos with you. After all, you guessed it, Sri Lanka is not in Africa. Firstly, I wanted to shed some light as to my background and as to where my passion for water and development stems from. Secondly, I wanted this blog to be personal as well as academic. I didn’t want this blog to be another monotonous blog; I wanted you to get to know me. Finally, within the theme of water and food in Africa, there are a number of sub themes which I will explore throughout the course of this blog. These sub themes are evident in the photographs. For example, Figure 3 is an image that my father took of a reservoir in Jaffna, and this blog will explore small and large scale irrigation schemes in more depth. Similarly, Figure 2 is an image of my grandmother utilising her unique farming methods. In other words, she is using indigenous knowledge to make the most of the water available to her. These pictures capture a part of my life, my upbringing and my home.

Setting the scene for my blog, Africa’s situation is heart-breaking. It is a continent rife with poverty and malnutrition, where one quarter of the population of sub-Saharan Africa is undernourished (Rockström and Falkenmark 2015). Double this figure live in extreme poverty and 20% face severe water shortages (ibid). Recent significant increases in population growth has meant that there are ever increasing stresses on food security (ibid). Not only this, the distribution of this population is important to consider. 40% of this population live in arid to dry sub-humid zones and in areas where surface runoff is too low to support irrigation (see Fig 7). 

Figure 7: Aridity Zones. Source: (Rockstrom and Falkenmark 2015)

My blog title, Droughts & Floods, also links into a couple more issues. Climate change is going to enhance the variability of droughts and floods in the future (Hirabayashi et al. 2013). For example, climate change is expected to cause an alteration in the seasonality of the monsoon in West Africa (Sultan et al 2014). The central Sahel region will experience greater rainfall overall which is contrasted with less rainfall expected in the west (ibid).  It is important to note that Africa is not a homogenous continent, but is extremely diverse socially, economically and environmentally.  The situation is not the same everywhere in Africa and will also vary on local and national scales. Therefore, different issues need to be dealt with in unique ways.

Another way that the issue may be closer to home is through virtual water. Water scarce countries have experienced an increase in water resources available to them, by globalisation. By trading food which has used water to grow in another country, there is a hidden flow of embedded water (Konar and Caylor 2013). For example, when food is exported to a country in North Africa, home to the biggest net virtual water importers in the world (Mekonnen and Hoekstra 2011), the burden of water is transferred to the exporting country, closer to home. 

The issue of water and food is closer to home because even though my blog’s focus is on Africa, environmental refugees (ERs) are found internationally. Environmental refugees can be defined as ‘those people who have been forced to leave their traditional habitat […] because of a marked environmental disruption’ (El-Hinnawi 1985: 4-5). In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the number of environmental refugees is projected to increase dramatically from roughly 7 million in the 1990s to 200 million in 2050 (Epule et al.  2015). Drought and land degradation, which are factors ultimately leading to food insecurity, are the main drivers for ERs (ibid). The main destinations for these ERs are North Africa and Europe which therefore creates a number of social, economic, political and environmental problems in these areas, closer to home (ibid). Furthermore, political and moral obligations means that aid which is directed towards ERs from Africa is financed from sources closer to home; the financial burden is placed on us.

Problems of water and food in Africa should be treated as if they are closer to home rather than out there. This way, positive actions can be implemented quicker.

List of References

BBC (2009) ‘Cumbria flood areas braced for more rain’ (WWW) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8371796.stm; accessed 09/10/2017).

El-Hinnawi, E. (1985). Environmental refugees. Nairobi: United Nations Environment Programme.

Epule, T. E., C. Peng and L. Lepage (2015) ‘Environmental refugees in sub-Saharan Africa: a review of perspectives on the trends, causes, challenges and way forward’, GeoJournal, 80, 1, 79-92.

Hirabayashi, Y., R. Mahendran, S. Koirala, L. Konoshima, D. Yamazaki, S. Watanabe and S. Kanae (2013) ‘Global flood risk under climate change’, Nature Climate Change, 3, 9, 816-821.

Konar, M. and K. K. Caylor (2013) ‘Virtual water trade and development in Africa’, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 17, 10, 3969.

Mekonnen, M. M. and A. Y. Hoekstra (2011) National water footprint accounts: the green, blue and grey water footprint of production and consumption.

Rockström, J. and M. Falkenmark (2015) ‘Increase water harvesting in Africa’, Nature, 519, 7543, 283.

Sultan, B., K. Guan, M. Kouressy, M. Biasutti, C. Piani, G. L. Hammer and D. B. Lobell (2014) ‘Robust features of future climate change impacts on sorghum yields in West Africa’, Environmental Research Letters, 9, 10, 104006.