1. Introduction: Thirsty Farms = Hungry People

Food and water are intrinsically linked. We eat plants and animals, both of which require water to survive. Therefore if our farms go thirsty… our people go hungry. Thirst and hunger are problems we are already facing and shall continue to face into the future. One in nine people in the world are malnourished (FAO, 2015) and one in six people are considered water scarce (FAO 2007). With continued population growth, increasingly meat/dairy heavy diets and future climate change, things are only going to get worse. Reducing water scarcity in food insecure regions is going to be key to overcoming widespread hunger.

Fig. 1 Plants struggling to grow in cracked dry soils in Malawi (Source: Borgen Magazine) 

Why Africa?
Africa, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), is one of the world’s most food insecure and water scarce regions (FAO, 2015). It also has one of the largest population growth rates and is expected to be one of the continents hardest hit by climate change (Niang et al 2014). Therefore reducing water scarcity on farms in SSA is the focus of this blog.

Fig. 2 Silhouette of Africa, the focus of this blog

Reducing water scarcity: 
Fundamentally water scarcity is a function of supply and demand. In the general sense it occurs when demand exceeds supply and people do not have enough water to meet their needs (Rijsberman 2005; Taylor 2009). This blog will investigate ways in which we can increase water supply and decrease water demand on farms in SSA to try to reduce water scarcity.

Fig. 3 Conceptual diagram showing water scarcity as a function of supply and demand (created by me for this blog)