Introduction

Hello and welcome!

In the coming weeks, I will be researching and posting about hydro-politics in Africa. 

I will begin by explaining why I chose this theme and how I relate to it. 

First and foremost, why focus on water? 

Water is essential to human life, be it for domestic, agricultural, or industrial use.  

Access to drinking water and sanitation are now recognised as fundamental human rights – integrated within the right to adequate living conditions (United Nations, 2010).

 

And why Africa? 

Africa has been identified as the most vulnerable continent to the effects of climate change, with Africa's water resources being particularly vulnerable (Serdeczny et al., 2016).

This is due to both geographical and economic factors. 

For instance, the continent has the world's lowest per capita rates of food production (Funk and Brown, 2009) and the most variable water discharges (McMahon et al., 2007).

Water scarcity has been experienced due to demographic growth, urbanisation and better living standards among certain segments of the population, outstripping the capacity of water distribution networks (Chitonge, 2020).

Furthermore, Africa also has many transboundary basins, with 85% of its freshwater coming from basins that span multiple countries, which raises the prospect of both inter- and intra-state conflicts (Ashton, 2002).

Map of transboundary aquifers in Africa (UNEP, 2010)

Why look at water from a political standpoint?

The concept of development is challenging, has been interpreted in many different ways, and continues to be the subject of controversy. 

Yet, one improvement is that it is no longer regarded solely in economic terms, and so, as Sen puts it, it can be understood as the enhancement of freedoms, as the expansion of the ‘capabilities’ of persons to lead the kinds of lives they value. And poverty can be seen as the ‘deprivation of basic capabilities’ (Sen, 1999). 

When looking at politics through the lens of governance, resource distribution, and issues of power and identity, policy adoption and implementation must have a substantial role in different stakeholders' access to water and hence in the ‘expansion of capabilities’.

This is why posts will reflect political challenges, tensions and opportunities revolving around the supply and distribution of water. These might, for example, delve on equity issues or the management of inter boundary conflicts over water resources. 

Indeed, water has been increasingly looked at as a ‘global systemic risk’ (Mekonnen & Hoekstra, 2016).

Before I conclude this first post, I also want to provide context about my own relationship with water and Africa in order to expose my limitations on the topic. 

To be completely honest, I am completely unfamiliar with the whole theme. Prior to following the course “Water and Development in Africa” (UCL), I knew very little about water challenges, geographical characteristics across Africa, and so forth. I really had no theoretical knowledge about water, nor any direct experience with water scarcity. I lived in France before going to London for my studies. I come from a very privileged background where I have never been without water or any other essential resource. Further to that, I know very little about Africa, as I went there as a tourist, and visited 3 countries (Tunisia, Egypt, Tanzania) out of 54. This is why, I will try my best to educate myself on the complexities and nuances of the topics that I will mention. 

I am aware that there are still common narratives that circulate about Africa to reinforce the myths of lack of progress or history, myths or hopelessness and primitive exotic (Hart, 2012). These produce ‘discursive formations’ (Foucault, 1972) that limit and confine our reflections. 

My intentions for this blog: 

I study social and political studies and I find particularly interesting the concept of value from an economic and social perspective. Who assigns value? Who has the ability to influence, to decide? What is value based on? Thinking about value also relates to issues surrounding power relations. As I learn more about hydro-politics in Africa, I'll find out if I notice anything relating to the above. 

I initially considered focusing on a specific region of Africa in order to narrow the scope of the topic and try to dodge overfitting and oversimplified conclusions. But I couldn't make a decision. It seems, choosing is a form of sacrifice, or at least commitment. 

So, at the risk of compromising consistency, I'll choose topics for my posts according to how my interests develop throughout this learning journey. Posts will cover a wide range of topics at various scales of study and with multiple stakeholders. 

Stay tuned for the next post and don’t hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments! :)