Africa has a lot of opportunities to increase its efficiency in irrigation practices. This will add to the stresses of the an already stressed system. They are on pace to double their current population within a generation. However when one adds in the operating cost the project only nets $2.58 a ha^1 which is a total waste of resources and is very damaging to the local environment as it destroys areas that produce fish and fuel-wood.Īfrica is also having a population boom in the arid region of the sub-sahara region. At first glance it appears that the KRP makes about $115 a ha^-1, which is much higher than the $58 ha^-1 from improved flooding agricultural practices. Also in the Kano River Project the high operation cost to maintain the project makes it a really bad idea. Because of the high evaporation rates the farmers suck local aquifers dry causing springs to fails. Since a lot of studies are not done before major water projects are done some irrigation projects are not as helpful and sometimes actually are harmful to the economy. This leads to a high draining rate of aquifers because of irrigation.įarming is one of the largest waster of water in Africa according to Oyebande's article. The combination of high evaporation rates and fast runoff leads to a lot of water leaving the area it started. The first thing that really struck me was that Africa has such a high evaporation rate compared to the rest of the world. As I have been discussing in my past blogs Africa does have a lot of water shortage problems, and the article written by Lekan Oyebande goes into detail about why that is from a hydrological point of view.
WATER SAFARI FULL
A continent that is full of beauty, wild areas, and problems. I might start a different blog in the future it was a lot of fun.Īfrica. I think being reminded in class every Monday that blogs are due and knowing the different groups better would make checking and posting blogs easier. I think that blogging really helped me get into the topic of water management and to become more aware of how I could use an Environmental Physical Science degree. It was fun researching about the current issues in Africa and I really enjoyed reading the other blogs in the class as they all were very interesting. I think that as the richest country in the world we could go a long way in helping Africa develop however, I worry if we can do it with their best interest first seeing how our country seems to be greedy. I would like to learn more about how we can help these countries and people provide safe water for themselves. If Africa would develop infrastructure to help keep sewage out of the water and facilities to help clean the water they could help draw themselves out of poverty. I loved the story about Kenya finding a huge aquifer to provide water for its citizens. Over the past semester I have looked at the water stories of Africa and what impressed upon my mind the most was that even though there seems to be a huge need for clean, safe water and better management practices there is hope.
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