492
A. Vushe
2 Water and Land Resource Demand Management,
vulnerability to climate change Impacts, Sustainable
Food Security, and Socioeconomic Development
Climate change threatens to negatively impact the availability of water, which directly
threatens the economic development of vulnerable developing countries in Africa.
Vulnerability is exacerbated by current demographic trends, and related land-use
changes. Other drivers of change are increased population pressure, economic development, and urbanization trends. Rapid urbanization and economic development
have been the main drivers of water demand and pollution (spatially and temporally), so they impose cross-cutting pressure on a scarce but indispensable environmental resource, worsening imbalances between supply and demand, especially in
semi-arid and arid areas. In the recent past, these drivers stressed water resources
far beyond the stress caused directly by natural global climatic changes (Al-Kalbani
et al. 2014). Increasing demand for vulnerable freshwater resources combined with
prevalent management systems for water and land resources has resulted in the tooslow improvement of livelihoods and well-being of many inhabitants of developing
countries (Gain et al. 2012).
About 500,000 km
2 of land in Africa is estimated to be degraded due to
soil erosion, salinization, pollution, and desertification. Deforestation, forest fires,
over-cultivation, inefficient irrigation practices, overgrazing, overexploitation of
resources, and uncontrolled mining activities, as well as climate change and variability, are blamed for the degradation (UNEP 2016). Arresting the degradation and
rehabilitation of the degraded lands requires shifts from current management practices to scientifically proven solutions for the various causes of degradation. Cuttingedge technology and practical and cost-effective strategies that are best developed
through research are required to deal with the root causes and effects. The consequences of the degradations include reduced agricultural productivity with concomitant effects on food availability, nutrition, and human health. This research may lead
to understanding cross-cutting issues like social, economic, and political tensions;
migration; and the spread of diseases (UNEP 2016).
Inefficient irrigation practices and poor management of fertilizers led to loss of
topsoil and salinization, resulting in loss of soil fertility and poor plant growth. The
areas most affected by salinization are the arid and semi-arid regions of North and
Southern Africa, where about 30% of irrigated land has been lost to salinization.
Desertification, desert encroachment, and an alteration of hydrological regimes have
been observed in several African ecosystems and regions (Odjugo 2010; Descroix
et al. 2009; IPCC 2007). Research into a combination of agricultural management
best practices and use of appropriate irrigation technology may solve salinization
problems on irrigated lands. Practical solutions to desertification and salinization
challenges may require reforestation, pasture revitalization, and best practices in
animal production and agronomy in large-scale agricultural production systems, and
management of overgrazed lands and regulation of nomadic pastoralism. The huge
challenge is finding appropriate methods for utilization and/or conversion of deserts
A. Vushe
2 Water and Land Resource Demand Management,
vulnerability to climate change Impacts, Sustainable
Food Security, and Socioeconomic Development
Climate change threatens to negatively impact the availability of water, which directly
threatens the economic development of vulnerable developing countries in Africa.
Vulnerability is exacerbated by current demographic trends, and related land-use
changes. Other drivers of change are increased population pressure, economic development, and urbanization trends. Rapid urbanization and economic development
have been the main drivers of water demand and pollution (spatially and temporally), so they impose cross-cutting pressure on a scarce but indispensable environmental resource, worsening imbalances between supply and demand, especially in
semi-arid and arid areas. In the recent past, these drivers stressed water resources
far beyond the stress caused directly by natural global climatic changes (Al-Kalbani
et al. 2014). Increasing demand for vulnerable freshwater resources combined with
prevalent management systems for water and land resources has resulted in the tooslow improvement of livelihoods and well-being of many inhabitants of developing
countries (Gain et al. 2012).
About 500,000 km
2 of land in Africa is estimated to be degraded due to
soil erosion, salinization, pollution, and desertification. Deforestation, forest fires,
over-cultivation, inefficient irrigation practices, overgrazing, overexploitation of
resources, and uncontrolled mining activities, as well as climate change and variability, are blamed for the degradation (UNEP 2016). Arresting the degradation and
rehabilitation of the degraded lands requires shifts from current management practices to scientifically proven solutions for the various causes of degradation. Cuttingedge technology and practical and cost-effective strategies that are best developed
through research are required to deal with the root causes and effects. The consequences of the degradations include reduced agricultural productivity with concomitant effects on food availability, nutrition, and human health. This research may lead
to understanding cross-cutting issues like social, economic, and political tensions;
migration; and the spread of diseases (UNEP 2016).
Inefficient irrigation practices and poor management of fertilizers led to loss of
topsoil and salinization, resulting in loss of soil fertility and poor plant growth. The
areas most affected by salinization are the arid and semi-arid regions of North and
Southern Africa, where about 30% of irrigated land has been lost to salinization.
Desertification, desert encroachment, and an alteration of hydrological regimes have
been observed in several African ecosystems and regions (Odjugo 2010; Descroix
et al. 2009; IPCC 2007). Research into a combination of agricultural management
best practices and use of appropriate irrigation technology may solve salinization
problems on irrigated lands. Practical solutions to desertification and salinization
challenges may require reforestation, pasture revitalization, and best practices in
animal production and agronomy in large-scale agricultural production systems, and
management of overgrazed lands and regulation of nomadic pastoralism. The huge
challenge is finding appropriate methods for utilization and/or conversion of deserts