Future demand for water by farming, including livestock production, will be influenced by strategies for food security, and increasing food supply in Africa is closely linked to the utilization of and access to water. Water shortages are increasingly becoming a serious impediment to intensifying agriculture, with about one-third of the people in the region living in drought-prone areas at present – as the FAO already stressed in 2008. In these areas, drought-proofing measures such as soil and water conservation, improved water-harvesting techniques, minimum tillage, improved crop selection and varieties, and small-scale irrigation will be important elements in the region’s food security strategies.
Unpredictable rainfall as a result of climate change, lack of water management and failure of crops is making food security impossible in this region. It has been shown that rainfall variability resulting from climate change has decreased crop yields in Africa, affecting agricultural production and resulting in higher prices for food, which could trigger a regional food crisis. This would lead to greater food insecurity. Climate change can thus complicate the existing chronic food shortage in Africa in various ways. This includes reducing the potential level of local food production, by putting pressure on global cereals production and by eroding the source of income and asset base of the poor.
A number of countries in Africa, including Ethiopia, are characterized as food deficit and are dependent on food aid. This became a major concern for the international community. The recurrence of famine in the 1970s, 80s and 90s has affected the country’s food production and currently over 5 million people are dependent on food aid. This is mainly because Ethiopia’s agriculture is rainfed and very sensitive to climate variability. Insufficient rainfall, for instance, could lead the country into famine. However, it is not just the scarcity of water and fertile land that makes Ethiopia one of the largest recipients of food aid in Africa but also its lack of water management, transfer of technology and financial constraints to developing its agriculture sector. In fact, Ethiopia has “significant agricultural potential” because of its water resources and its fertile land areas. Recognizing this huge potential, the government implemented a strategy to tackle the current food deficit and implemented the “agricultural development led industrialization policy”. This policy is intended to invest resources in local vulnerable households and initiate more capacity building for small farms that have the potential to transform farming from subsistence to “semi-commercial”. The government also allocated 15% of the national budget to the agricultural sector. The cost of the programme is nevertheless far beyond the allocated national budget, therefore extensive donor support will be essential.
To date, only about 5 percent of the total potential is utilized. While irrigation seems the obvious measure for improving food security by increasing agricultural productivity, it also has the additional benefits of being able to provide a basis for growth, income and employment. In order to meet the growing demand for food security and nutrition under increasingly difficult climate conditions and in a situation of diminishing resources, Africa must act urgently toward sustainable and resilient food production systems. The current Food Security and Recovery Project by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to “contribute to the achievement of food security in Africa including disaster risk management and early recovery capacities” should continue.
