Final Thoughts

Welcome to the last post of Water and Food in Africa, thank you for following me through this journey!

When writing these blogs, I was constantly learning more about this continent and its issues revolving around water and food. I started my blog series introducing how water scarcity can be measured using different metrics, then moving on in investigating groundwater, seawater, genetically modified crops and climate-smart agriculture to assess whether they can be suitable solutions in addressing Africa’s current ‘crisis’ in dealing with water scarcity. I also explored Africa through case studies that focused on South Africa and Ethiopia, where I found how GMOs and CSAs are implemented in real life. I have found out the great potential of groundwater within the continent, and countries have already started their adaptation and mitigation strategies in combating the current situation. It is clear that Africa has already started its journey of turning into becoming more sustainable, and more self-sufficient.

South African Coastline - Source

As an individual who had limited knowledge about Africa at the start of this journey, I have gained a more holistic perspective in viewing Africa. Although my knowledge of this continent is still probably very shallow, this gave me the chance to conduct my blog from a subjective perspective. However, I would say that after walking along this journey, conducting research and reading through the peer reviewed papers, many of my original biases towards Africa were changed. Because of this, I sincerely hope that after you finish reading my posts, your initial perception of Africa would also change.

It is sad to see that Africa is a continent with rich water resources, but these resources are not being fully utilised. This happens because the countries have limited knowledge and funding in order for them to start utilising them. But I believe that with more informative institutions, advanced technologies and substantial fundings, this situation can be altered. Thinking back to my introductory post where I introduced the Sustainable Development Goals, I think Africa is making its way towards meeting them. Though this process might be long, I believe that Africa does have a bright journey ahead.