From Surface Water to Groundwater - A shift in approach

As outlined in my 2^nd blog - “Africa Feeling the Heat” – Africa will without doubt be faced with the repercussions of climate change over the coming years. As rain variability increases, the world’s poorest continent will experience more flood cases and more droughts than ever before. The ramifications of such events range from a huge loss in agricultural yields to the destruction of homes; both leading to social implications including famine arising from food insecurities.

 

The present agricultural situation in Africa is such that crops are far too dependent on rainfall and the prospect of more intense and more infrequent rainfall would result in a higher crop failure rate - hence lower yields. This would change the dynamics of African agriculture if their growing seasons were to alter as a result of climate change (Niang et al., 2011). This notion is further supported by Taylor et al. (2013) who fears that more intense rainfall events such as floods will have negative socio-economic repercussions.

 

As the growing seasons across Africa are set to change, it is imperative that farmers adapt their methods to ensure crop yields aren’t fatal. DeWit and Stankiewicz (2006) found that even a 10% reduction in rainfall would lead to a 40% reduction in the drainage density- affecting at least 75% of the continent. This poses a huge problem for farmers who irrigate their crops using predominantly surface water during the dry season. As such, this reduction in rainfall could potentially lower river levels thus providing less water for surface water irrigation.

 

The solution? The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) are very excited about the potential of tapping into groundwater irrigation which could bring “threefold wins of environmental sustainability, agricultural productivity and greater social equality” (IWMI, 2015).

 

In my next blog post I will be explaining more about groundwater irrigation and the increasingly important role it could play in African agriculture.

Below is an illustration of the differences between groundwater and surface water for those from a non geographical background.