Introductory Post

Welcome to this blog!

 

I wanted to introduce the theme for my blog in this introductory post 'Water and Politics in Africa', and the significance of it to the discipline.

 

Imagine someplace hot with vast savanna's that are filled up with herd animals and scrawny starving people. Yes you are correct, I was describing Africa. We often associate the continent as a single nation, where foreign entities implement a 'one fix for all' solution when solving the issues regarding water, and Wainaina's article on 'How to Write About Africa' is a truly engaging, comical and satirical piece, covering common stereotypes of the continent. The terminology used when writing about Africa has strong colonial roots, and misconceptions about the continent are ever-present in both academic and popular discourse. In strict economic terms, Africa is the poorest region with the lowest proportions of national populations with access to safe water, making it an interesting location to focus on for water and politics. Lack of access to safe water has detrimental consequences to health and has resulted in 1.5 million fatalities per year, of which 360, 000 were children aged 5 or under. We often undermine the capabilities of African nations, and foreign organisations set up large-scale development projects to 'improve' water sources in African countries. I use inverted commas here as what is failed to be mentioned in most progress reports published by these global organisations is that although the water source has improved, it does not necessarily mean that the source is safe, viable or potable. In other words the quality of water is going from worse to bad where the overall change is not significant enough to be labelling it as an improvement. This highlights the politics of power, and how the African continent is painted as constantly in need of help from the white saviour.

 

Water is perhaps the most important resource on this planet; it ultimately sustains all life and has no substitutes. Water is a valuable commodity, where its main use is not for drinking, but vital for agricultural production. Lack of water essentially results in decreased rates of food production, leading to hunger and famine which are inherently political issues. Water has also been the root cause for many conflicts and tensions both within and across nations, which I will be covering in this blog. The commodity is also at the focal point for many development goals where the SDGs have designated goal number 6 in hopes to 'ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all'.

 

The value of water is increasing and it is predicted that 21st century conflicts will be fought over water, mirroring the wars that were fought over oil in the Middle East in the 20th century. It is clear that water can no longer be separate from the political realm and that the two now go hand-in-hand. 

Over the coming weeks, I hope to write about specific examples of where water and politics are intrinsically tied to each other through aspects such as inter-basin transfers, dam constructions and food production, putting a spotlight mostly on the river Nile, but also touching on other notable examples.