Improving The Water Footprint

Most of Sub-Saharan Africa is relying on agriculture as their main economical income. However the agricultural sector is the one with the largest water consumption. As water scarcity is already a big issue in Africa as I have introduced in previous blog posts this adds to the problem. Lots of water is used to maintain agriculture as an economic unit but people have not got enough sanitary water to drink or maintain hygienic conditions. 

To help understand how the available water has been used so far in Africa the Water Footprint Network was established by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They generated Water Footprint Profiles for a few Sub-Saharan African countries to be able to trace current water use and improve it in a more sustainable way. 

The results proved what was already suspected. The majority of the water was used for agricultural crops and to maintain livestock. On some products water is used very inefficiently as it excels the global average for certain crops whereas others are produced with a higher efficiency. Therefore it would be smart to focus on these and export them to improve the productivity of the economy. 

The aim here is a sustainable development. This means finding a balance between maintaining the agricultural economy but also waisting less water. An enhanced agricultural production could „improve livelihoods by reducing poverty and increasing food security“.

Suggestions for a sustainable development of the agricultural sector in Sub-Saharan Africa would be to base the agricultural irrigation on green water. Green water is the water the soil holds after rainfall.

The ways to improve the access to and increase the amount of green water would be „collecting run-off; improving the infiltration of rain in soils; and managing land, water and crops across watersheds to increase water storage in soils, wetlands and the water table“.

This would also be called water harvesting as it helps to store the water from rain seasons in times in which rain is scarce. This technique has been introduced in the 1980s in some parts of Africa where it has proved to be very helpful in raising the productivity and the stability of crop yields. 

Moreover the sustainable development of Africa would also rely on blue water for aspects such as urbanization, industrialization and energy development. Blue water is an equivalent for run-off. It is essential to „recharges rivers, lakes and groundwater“. The challenge is to store this water while keeping it clean and preventing evaporation during dry season.

As rainfall is going to be decreasing even more due to climate change in most areas in Africa it is important to manage green as well as blue water to be able to use the available water efficiently.

The right management of these forms of water harvesting could also support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the United Nations. As a smart way of managing and using green and blue water could help decrease hunger and maintain agricultural production in a more sustainable way. 

„Retaining more rainwater in soils and storing run-off would bridge dry spells that last weeks, the major challenge to rain-fed food production. For longer droughts, social and economic strategies are needed to assure food security.“