A reflection

It is easy to forget that water security is the necessary starting point to ensure food security. Yet it seems crazy (and evident) that so much more research needs to be done about the link between the two in Africa. Why is the utilisation of water, such a widely-used resource, still inefficient? The answer is simple; water is an ever-changing resource in terms of its availability and distribution, and the ways that people harness water are endless. There is no one link between food and water, but rather a complex web which I have tried to explore a small part of in this blog. One thing I have learnt throughout writing this blog is that the key to water efficiency is not just about the science, but also about creativity, which has potential to come from the bottom-up. However, many solutions and ideas need money, which there is an obvious lack of in developing regions. It is a vicious cycle that never ends; there is no development without adequate water and food resources, and on the other hand, there are few opportunities to better water and food security without development. Schulze (2011) claims that the impacts of climate change will be most felt through the medium of water. But on a more positive note, I have shared some encouraging examples of ideas that can be used in the future to make agricultural water use in Africa more sustainable, and I hope to continue to explore many more examples!