Famines: It's Not All About Water

My blog post on the Gezira Irrigation Scheme prompted me to think about famines and what causes them. How much of a role does water have to play?

In South Sudan earlier this year, a year where I thought we had progressed, a famine was declared for the first time in 6 years (BBC 2017). With the problem extending over to neighbouring regions such as Somalia and Yemen, 20 million people were on the brink of starvation and this matter could not go unnoticed in my blog (ibid). 

Figure 1: Pictures of dry land is a common way of visualising famine (Escooped 2016)

When thinking about the causes of famines, drought often does come to mind. The media is often covered with pictures of deserts or land that is so dry that it is cracked (see Figure 1). Even though water and other climatic factors do play a fundamental role in determining whether crop yields are sufficient to meet demand, there are a myriad of other factors which need to be discussed, in order put the role of water into context. My problem with images such as Figure 1 is that it makes it out as if famines are completely a natural, environmental problem. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that anthropocentric climate change has induced these common droughts throughout Africa and other parts of the world. Other man-made factors include issues surrounding access, caused by poor management or civil war for example.

 

Figure 2: A woman eating sorghum in South Sudan (Guardian 2016)

Images such as Figure 2 have a deeper story behind them, offering an alternative view to Figure 1. For example, the fact that this woman is eating sorghum highlights two things: sorghum was imported and airdropped into the country as a form of international aid, and secondly, sorghum is one of the main crops of the Gezira irrigation scheme (BBC 2017; Karimi et al. 2012).

I came across an opinion piece which I found remarkably biased. I wanted to respond to some of the statements that were made by Sam Akaki on the Guardian. Akaki claims that ‘increases in famine […] are not a result of British colonialism. They are a graphic and tragic demonstration of the failure of self-governance in Africa’ (Guardian 2017). In my previous posts, I have written in depth about government failure, but to disregard the impacts of colonialism is unsettling. 

Figure 3: Borders of ethnicities in Africa (Freakonomics 2011)

Civil war has been cited as the ‘main driver’ of the famine in South Sudan (Luka and Burgess 2017: 70). Several studies have provided evidence to suggest that racial tensions were created primarily by the arbitrary colonial borders which forcibly split up different ethnicities. Figure 3 shows the numerous partitioned groups caused by European colonisers and this has been a driver of civil conflict in the post-colonial period. Linking back to one of my previous blog posts on linear trajectories of development and modernisation, I mentioned how the failures of large scale development projects were also a factor is causing failed crop yields. So indirectly, these colonial development projects, funded by the World Bank, are also to blame.

Looking ahead

‘Famines in the 21^st century? It’s not for lack of food’, an article written for The Conversation by Daniel Maxwell who is a Professor in Food Security at Tufts University, was an interesting read because not only did Maxwell discuss the man-made factors responsible for a famine, he also discussed the practical solutions for preventing one. He goes on to write that famines are caused by ‘cumulative processes we can observe and predict’, which means that better warning systems can be implemented (The Conversation 2017). I thought the concept of prediction is a very important one, but also the need for acting swiftly is also equally as important (ibid).

In both of these pieces mentioned above, it becomes apparent that water is not the only factor which determines the conditions for a famine. Even though my blog is about water in Africa, it was important to discuss these other factors in order to understand how water fits into the overall picture. The aim of this blog post is to stop people falling into the trap to believe that droughts and floods are the only causes of famine, which can hide a deeper, darker truth. 

List of References

BBC (2017) ‘South Sudan no longer in famine’ (WWW) (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-40352926; accessed 15/11/2017)

Freakonomics (2011) ‘The violent legacy of Africa’s arbitrary borders’ (WWW) (http://freakonomics.com/2011/12/01/the-violent-legacy-of-africas-arbitrary-borders/; accessed 15/11/2017)

Guardian (2016) ‘Drought, hunger add to South Sudan’s woes’ (WWW) (https://guardian.ng/news/drought-hunger-add-to-south-sudans-woes/; accessed 15/11/2017)

Guardian (2017) ‘Africa’s tragedies are not a result of British colonialism’ (WWW) (https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jul/27/africa-tragedies-not-a-result-of-british-colonialism; accessed 15/11/2017)

Karimi, P., D. Molden, A. Notenbaert and D. Peden (2012) ‘Nile Basin farming systems and productivity’, in S. B. Awulachew (ed.) The Nile River Basin: Water, Agriculture, Governance and Livelihoods, London: Routledge, 133-154.

Luka, E. E. and A. Burgess (2017) ‘Famine and its effects on health in South Sudan A Commentary’, South Sudan Medical Journal, 10, 3, 69-70.