Water and Food in Africa: 2022

COP 27 stands for the 2022  United Nations Climate Change Conference , the 27th United nation Climate Change conference held from 6th November until 18 November 2022. It will be held in an Egyptian coastal city Sharm el-Sheikh. All major stakeholders, including heads of state, ministers, climate activities and more, are gathering for the largest annual climate action meeting. This post was written before the conference took place and argues that the decision-makers should prioritise climate justice. The focus will be the disproportionate impact received by Africa, how it influences food security and why climate justice should be prioritised. First of all, Africa, as well as the globe, is facing a severe climate crisis. Climate change hazards to agricultural productivity, food security, water resources, and ecosystem services may significantly affect African lives and chances for sustainable developmen t. In 2007, the IPCC anticipated that climate change and variability would ...

Water scarcity refers to the situation of lacking access to safe drinking water. UN's sustainable development goal (SDG) 6 has shown that access the affordable, clean and safe drinking water is a  fundamental human right . The growing lack of water can be shown in two ways, economic and physical water scarcity.  Economic water scarcity  refers to the institutional failings that prevent people from accessing safe water, such as poor infrastructure and lack of planning from a politically unstable government.  Physical water scarcity  literally means the lack of water supply which may result from seasonality and climate change. Unfortunately, Africa is struggling with both types of water scarcity due to many factors such as government failure, climate change and especially  the rapid population growth  with a rate above 2% annually. Water scarcity is predicted to reach a dangerously high level by 2025. By now,  1 in 3 Africans is facing water scarcit...

From my previous studies and human ecology course learnt in year one, water and food scarcity are always constant threats facing mankind. Africa is usually recognised as a vulnerable continent that constantly faces water and food crises. The situation in 2022 has worsened economically, politically and environmentally.   To understand the current situation, potential challenges, and further discussions about individual countries, it is helpful for the readers to know my viewpoint on this complicated issue. Since lack of food and water is an obvious 'tag' on Africa, my introduction post will briefly clarify the typical stereotypes of African studies and help readers to better understand my future blogs. I will try to avoid the inequalities within my writing and be objective in writing about Africa. Understand the complexity of 'Africa.' A typical picture of Africa: big and red sunset, wild empty savanna. Source Before going into details about water and food in Africa, the...