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Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Agrarian Change, Property and Resources

Water Scarcity and Food Security along the Nile : Politics, population increase and climate change

Upphovsperson: Oestigaard, Terje
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Agrarian Change, Property and Resources | Uppsala, Sweden
År: 2012
Ämnesord: River basins, Shared water resources, Water shortage, Food security, Population growth, Climate change, Geopolitics, International agreements, Regional developmen, Nile river, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
In 2050, the population in all the Nile Basin countries is expected to be ten times higher than it was in 1950. This will put ever increasing pressure on water as a resource for development. The Nile Basin catchment area is shared by 11 countries covering about one-tenth of the African continent. Globally, around 70 per cent of fresh water consumption is used in agriculture. This puts the spotlight on future scenarios regarding food production: will there be enough water for food security in the Nile Basin countries? In this Current African Issues publication, water scarcity and food security are analysed from a range of perspectives. What are the future predictions regarding population increase and climate change, and how will these affect development in Nile Basin countries? What are the current water theories addressing the above issues, and what are the main challenges the Nile Basin countries will face in a context that is also strongly shaped by its history?

From Global Land Grabbing for Biofuels to Acquisitions of African Water for Commercial Agriculture

Upphovsperson: Olanya, David Ross
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Agrarian Change, Property and Resources | Uppsala, Sweden
År: 2012
Ämnesord: Africa, Land acquisition, Biomass energy, Fuel Water resources, Agricultural production, Commercial farming, Foreign investment, Property rights, Livelihood, Environmental aspects, Government policy
Expansion of biofuel investment in Africa has been supported by indebted poor governments because of perceived potential benefits such as sustainable energy development, support to poor farmers, development of rural economies and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. However, the intensity of the biofuels political economy in poor countries worsens inequality for the vulnerable poor. This is evidenced by large-scale land acquisitions in Africa for biofuel and crop production primarily for foreign consumption – food, animal feeds and energy crops. The search for land in African countrieshas been triggered by growing concerns over food and energy security in developed countries following the global food crisis of 2008. Moreover, these recent developments in large-scale land acquisitions in Africa are not a new phenomenon, but represent the renewal of old practices incommercial agriculture, which is either conducted through purchases or long-term leases. In addition to biofuel expansion, this study notes that current large-scale land acquisitions in sub-Saharan Africa have been further driven by demands to access water resources for other commercial agricultural crops. The land purchases or leases automatically guarantee access to African water. This demand for water is a response to climate change: most industrialists believe that acquiring land near a main water reservoir will guarantee future agricultural potential. Few analyses have been done on the land-water access nexus. This article considers recent developments in large-scaleland acquisitions in Africa in terms of water security for commercial agriculture to safeguard the production of agricultural crops with a large water footprint. Using political economy analysis, this article examines national policy on these acquisitions, the rights accorded to foreign investors and how land acquisitions undermine indigenous rights to the common resources that have been the mainsource of livelihood in sub-Saharan Africa.

Introduction: A changing world and its consequences

Upphovspersoner: Havnevik, Kjell | Dietz, Antonius Johannes | Oestigaard, Terje | Kaag, Mayke
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Agrarian Change, Property and Resources | Leiden; Boston
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Foreign relations, Self-determination, international economic relations, Globalization, Economic conditions, Political conditions, Africa, Political science, Statsvetenskap
With the end of the Cold War, the world seemed to move from a bipolar to a unipolar system, with the neoliberal West globally imposing its laws. However, it has been acknowledged that other actors, such as China, India and Brazil, have become increasingly influential, helping to lead to a new multipolarity at the global level. The question of what this emerging multipolarity means for Africa is important. Will Africa become crushed in a mounting struggle over raw materials and political hegemony between superpowers and fall victim to a new scramble for Africa? Or does this new historic juncture offer African countries and groups greater room for negotiation and manoeuvring, eventually leading to stronger democracy and enhanced growth? The chapters in this volume offer food for thought on how Africa’s engagements with the world are currently being reshaped and revalued, and, importantly—on whose terms?

Water and climate change in Africa – from causes to consequences

Upphovsperson: Oestigaard, Terje
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Agrarian Change, Property and Resources | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Climate change, Environmental effects, Shared water resources, Food resources, Development aid, Nile river, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
There is a need to extend the climate change discourse. This should not be by paying less attention to the causes, which are now well known, but by stressing more the consequences, which have been largely neglected in political discourses, especially changes in water systems. This is also an issue of how global society should react to the uncertainties climate change represent for Africa and its development. Globally, the current political agenda focuses mainly on mitigation of carbon emissions, a consideration that also structures international aid policies, and less on adaptation and how to develop countries and societies when hydrology and environment changes. Thus, a water perspective may add important insights and future policy guidelines of particular relevance to Africa’s development.

Gish Abay – the source of the Blue Nile

Upphovspersoner: Oestigaard, Terje | Abawa Firew, Gedef
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Agrarian Change, Property and Resources | University of Bergen | Southampton. Boston
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Blue Nile, Gish Abay, ox sacrifice, Religion, rituals, source, water, History of religion, Religionshistoria
The river Nile is by many seen as the most important river in the world. The source of the Blue Nile is a spring called Gish Abay in Ethiopia. This is the source of Gilgal Abay (meaning the little Abay), which is the most voluminous of the some sixty rivers flowing into Lake Tana. Although the Nile Quest has attracted emperors and explorers alike since Antiquity, after the sources of the Nile were discovered the majority of studies have focused on hydrology and not on cultural and religious aspects of the river. Gish Abay has been seen as the outlet of the river Gihon flowing directly from Paradise linking this world with Heaven. The holiness of Abay and the source in particular have had and still have an important role in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Moreover, before the source was Christianised it had a central role in the indigenous religion where lavish ox sacrifices were conducted. Thus, in this article we highlight the ritual and religious role of Gish Abay in a historic perspective.

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