Water, Food and Development in Africa

  Sadly, this will be my final post on Water and Food in Africa! I have learnt a lot about the issues facing the continent, but also I've found how these are being overcome. I think it is clear for anyone to see how Africa has and continues to be affected by its horrific colonial history. These must be considered when discussing anything to do with the continent's development- not only in terms of water and food issues. I feel as though I tried to account for this throughout my posts and I hope I managed to not put out an outdated rhetoric that Sub-Saharan Africa is a homogenous continent in 'need' of Western aid. Not to say that this should be applauded, in fact it should really be commonplace. It is quite simple to achieve this, but constant media brainwashing that Africa is a continent to be pitied can result in many from the Global South becoming 'White Saviours'. This is something that needs to be changed and I do believe is changing, however a lot is still...

This blog is a continuation of last week's blog. Here I will discuss how GM crops are currently being used and the developments occurring. Current GM crop use in Africa As mentioned last week, access to GM crops is still unequal. This has meant that currently, South Africa is the only African country commercially growing GM crops.  The GM crops grown are maize, cotton and soya.  However, there are several other countries trialling this as well, namely Egypt, Tanzania and Kenya. Despite this, there are still many concerned about the impact these crops have, resulting in some countries, like Algeria and Sudan, imposing bans on them. As described previously in the context of Zambia, bans can have detrimental effects, such as causing  food shortages due to the rejection of aid.  This shows the differing opinions that exist within the continent.  GM crops have the potential to ensure food security within the region. However. accessibility remains a key issue. High co...

Since the commercialisation of Genetically Modified crops over 25 years ago, usage has dramatically increased. This post will aim to analyse how GM crops can be used to promote food security, while also looking at its potential challenges. Modifications, such as making crops drought resistant, aim to help achieve this goal.  Agricultural activities are the largest consumers of freshwater in the world. It currently accounts for roughly 70% of global freshwater usage. This figure is expected to rise by 60% by 2025. As such, attempts to reduce the industry's water consumption are essential. When you add in the fact climate change is increasing the risk of extreme weather and shifting climatic patterns, the need to increase water security becomes even more important. Sub-Saharan Africa has been drastically impacted by climate change (particularly during El Niño events), meaning climatic variability has increased dramatically. Droughts are more common, intense and far reaching than pre...