I've decided that the best way to begin this blog is to look at my existing knowledge on food and water. This largely comes from studying Human Ecology in first year and examining the relationship between famine and water scarcity. Whilst there is clearly far more to the study of water and food than the extreme case that is famine I felt examining famine would be a good place to start. This is both because it is an area I have previously studied and also because it seems to be a key part of the Western image of Africa and the continents relationship with water.
Whilst the connection between water scarcity and famine may seem obvious and direct it is in fact far more complicated that a simple case of insufficient water leading to a lack of food. The conventionally accepted cause for famines until the mid-twentieth century was Food Availability Decline (FAD) (Basu, 2010). This is the idea that famines are fundamentally caused by a lack of availability of food. This theory seemed to imply a pretty direct correlation between water scarcity and food supply, water is required for food production thus if the amount of water declines so will food production meaning less food will be available.
However the idea that the main cause of famines is FAD is now widely disputed. Largely responsible for this is the work of Amartya Sen. Sen pointed to the fact that this theory did not explain why only certain sections of the population were effected by famines and thus there must be human as well as physical causes (Sen, 1981). Sen argued that a more accurate explanation for the cause of famine was the failure of entitlement (Sen, 1981). The idea of entitlement was what a household could get access to via trade or other means. This changed the perception of famine from an issue of availability to one of access to food (Webb and von Braun, 1994).
A factor of growing importance when examining famines in Africa is population changes that are occurring, particularly the rapid population growth in countries such as east African nations, already prone to famine. For example Ethiopia’s is currently increasing at 2.6% per year (World bank, 2015). An increase in the population of a country acts to exacerbate any supply issue they may already be facing. The growing global population is thought to be the most important reason for the decrease in per capita cereal production (Funk and Brown, 2009). This is partially due to the increasing intensity of food production. Arable area cannot increase at the same rate as population and so farming is having to become more intensive, this leads to soil degradation, which is causing major long-term issues for food production (Tully, Sullivan and Sanchez, 2015; Gomiero, 2016).
To relate this to current events in Africa we can look at coverage of South Sudan. Here the UN and local officials are worrying that early 2019 may mark the start of a 3 month famine caused by a combination of the ongoing civil war and climate leading to a premature 'lean season'.
Again this is not to say that water supply or scarcity has no role in famine but rather that it is important to consider other factors. I think one of the best illustrations of this is also one of the most famous in recent years, the Ethiopian famine in 1984 and 1985. Here it seems widely agreed that the famine was initiated by a drought which led to a decrease in food supply, however this issue was exacerbated by political decisions surrounding the provision of aid to the area (De Waal, 1991). Similar tactics are at play in four current famines discussed in the video below.
I look forward to continuing this blog and hopefully greatly advancing my knowledge of water and food beyond this admittedly narrow foundational knowledge.
Whilst the connection between water scarcity and famine may seem obvious and direct it is in fact far more complicated that a simple case of insufficient water leading to a lack of food. The conventionally accepted cause for famines until the mid-twentieth century was Food Availability Decline (FAD) (Basu, 2010). This is the idea that famines are fundamentally caused by a lack of availability of food. This theory seemed to imply a pretty direct correlation between water scarcity and food supply, water is required for food production thus if the amount of water declines so will food production meaning less food will be available.
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| A typical media representation of famine in Ethiopia. Source |
However the idea that the main cause of famines is FAD is now widely disputed. Largely responsible for this is the work of Amartya Sen. Sen pointed to the fact that this theory did not explain why only certain sections of the population were effected by famines and thus there must be human as well as physical causes (Sen, 1981). Sen argued that a more accurate explanation for the cause of famine was the failure of entitlement (Sen, 1981). The idea of entitlement was what a household could get access to via trade or other means. This changed the perception of famine from an issue of availability to one of access to food (Webb and von Braun, 1994).
A factor of growing importance when examining famines in Africa is population changes that are occurring, particularly the rapid population growth in countries such as east African nations, already prone to famine. For example Ethiopia’s is currently increasing at 2.6% per year (World bank, 2015). An increase in the population of a country acts to exacerbate any supply issue they may already be facing. The growing global population is thought to be the most important reason for the decrease in per capita cereal production (Funk and Brown, 2009). This is partially due to the increasing intensity of food production. Arable area cannot increase at the same rate as population and so farming is having to become more intensive, this leads to soil degradation, which is causing major long-term issues for food production (Tully, Sullivan and Sanchez, 2015; Gomiero, 2016).
To relate this to current events in Africa we can look at coverage of South Sudan. Here the UN and local officials are worrying that early 2019 may mark the start of a 3 month famine caused by a combination of the ongoing civil war and climate leading to a premature 'lean season'.
Again this is not to say that water supply or scarcity has no role in famine but rather that it is important to consider other factors. I think one of the best illustrations of this is also one of the most famous in recent years, the Ethiopian famine in 1984 and 1985. Here it seems widely agreed that the famine was initiated by a drought which led to a decrease in food supply, however this issue was exacerbated by political decisions surrounding the provision of aid to the area (De Waal, 1991). Similar tactics are at play in four current famines discussed in the video below.
I look forward to continuing this blog and hopefully greatly advancing my knowledge of water and food beyond this admittedly narrow foundational knowledge.
This looks like its shaping up to be a really interesting blog. What made you chose water and food? Is this something that you have a particular passion about?
ReplyDeleteI feel like food is an important part of much of the 'wests' imagined geography of Africa and so thought it would be an interesting area to explore
DeleteA lovely post to start and nice exchange above.
ReplyDelete