Globally, around 70% (and up to 95% in some developing countries) of freshwater withdrawals are used for the purpose of agriculture (FAO, 2017) – the chief driver of water stress. Studies show that 57% of global freshwater use for crop production is unsustainable (Mekonnen and Hoekstra, 2020). This highlights the significance of employing appropriate methods of irrigation to sustain efficacy of food production during periods of hydrological variability. Countries of tropical (broadly sub-Saharan) Africa, reportedly, irrigate only around 5% of cropland, predominantly on a small scale basis. This is due to dependence on rain-fed agriculture (Xie et al., 2021). Rainfall is plentiful in tropical Africa, particularly in the ITCZ, but climate change makes the rainfall patterns erratic and leaves those regions vulnerable to drought.
There exist risk-averse strategies for rain-fed agriculture which focus on practices that make use of the climatic and hydrogeological variability. While irrigation is usually discussed in the context of overexploiting water reserves, small-holder farms’ irrigation could help to replenish the resource. The case of the ‘Bengal Water Machine’ (Shamsudduha et al, 2022) illustrates how groundwater withdrawals for irrigation in the dry season can create the conditions for efficient recharge during the wet reason’s rain-fed cultivation.
It's downhill in Ethiopia
In Oromia, Eastern Ethiopia people have adapted their types of agricultural cultivation of crops and livestock based on the changing nature of freshwater access at different elevations. Shallow uphill aquifers suffice for predominantly rain-fed cultivation of potato and cereal grains. On hill slopes, people dig wells and boreholes, extracting enough water to permit irrigated cash crops such as chat, while downhill groundwater rich fields sustain livestock rearing (Tucker et al., 2014).
We'll just have tap water for the table, please
Examining freshwater for food production involves that which is counted as domestic withdrawals. Groundwater provides over 80% of rural domestic supply in tropical Africa (Calow et al., 2010). Access to food and water is interrelated, however, decline in water access rarely indicates water scarcity. People, first, extract by hand from shallow water sources. Once those run low, tool-aided, deeper extraction eventually becomes limited by mechanical issues, which often go unaddressed for extended periods of time (Calow et al., 2010). Not all groundwater stores are rechargeable or encourage fair distribution of water access, which can lead to disputes, but this idea will be explored in a later entry. In Ethiopia, 64% of rural households depend on surface water (Tucker et al., 2014) which is inherently very prone to contamination.
Domestic water is used for cooking and meal preparation, hence the quality of it is important. Evidence from the town of Lukaya, Uganda show that around 55% of the shallow water sources, considered ‘improved’ and, therefore, safe for consumption, are contaminated with E.coli bacteria and faecal matter (Nayebare et al., 2020). Water contaminants permeate all aspects of life; boiling does not render them harmless, meaning they are consumed in home meals and drinking water. The water that mother ingests is used for production of breastmilk, the food for her baby, and can cause disease (McMahon et al., 2013). African countries are not amongst the most unsustainable freshwater users (Mekonnen and Hoekstra, 2020), yet, they vastly suffer safe water shortages and the repercussion of it.
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