Hydropolitics in Africa

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed exploring the political side of water and development over these last 9 weeks and have learnt a lot in the process. In this blog, I’ve tried to cover different regions of Africa (figure 1) so as not to confine myself to certain cultures, societies, political institutions and economies. The blog has largely followed the structure outlined in my introductory post, discussing how politics is intertwined with water management and provision at individual to international scales. Previously, I primarily associated politics with formal institutions and legal frameworks, but this blog has really highlighted the omnipresent nature of politics to me.  Figure 1. Map highlighting countries I’ve covered in this blog. Source At the beginning of the blog I set out how physical characteristics affect safe water access. Whilst I still believe the physical environment plays a part in water distribution and access, it’s become clear that politics is at the centre of water iss...

Today I stumbled across a TEDTalk with an interesting take on water in Africa that I wanted to share.  TED Talk by Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò who suggests Africa does not have a water crisis but instead has a knowledge crisis that stands between it and a future of prosperity. Source In this podcast Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò builds on the idea, mentioned in my third post , that Africa does not have insufficient water but rather this water is uneven or currently inaccessible. However, he goes on to frame the water crisis as a knowledge crisis. Some interesting points he raises that link to other posts in this blog include: Africa's has knowledge crisis regarding the type, location, access to and redistribution of water which prevents effective utilisation of its abundant water resources (not a lack of water). Links to posts 3 & 6 . For 500 years (beginning with slave trade) Africa has been exporting brains and therefore breaking knowledge transmission chains on the continent which negatively...

Last month the Sierra Leone Land Alliance (SSLA) released a report titled ‘Land grabbing in a time of Covid-19 in Sierra Leone’ in which they said land ownership was a primary cause of tension between the government and citizens ( Politico 2020 ). This notion is not new: land tension and unequal distribution of resources has frequently been stated as a major driver of the Sierra Leone civil war ( Sturgess and Flower 2013 ). This post will explore land grabbing in Sierra Leone in more detail, highlighting why it’s such a contentious issue. It will illuminate the reasons behind the government’s decision to lease/sell land and why citizens are so opposed to it. Unlike my other blog entries, it will focus on foreign players’ involvement in African hydropolitics and how they are partly to blame for the poor relationship between Sierra Leone citizens and government.   Land grabbing First a quick introduction to land grabbing: what is it and how does it relate to water and developmen...

My introductory post presented water as a human right, fundamental to maintaining life, whilst subsequent posts explored water management at national and international scales. In this post I look at water in Africa from a sanitation perspective, and shift focus to local and individual scales.  Historically, urban sanitation was masked by water supply issues ( George 2008 ) but it’s now seen as a key concern associated with urban poverty and an opportunity for development, with the toilet becoming a development device ( Thieme 2018 ).  Thus, sanitation is inherently political, with the claim to a toilet being both a human rights claim ( UN 2010 ) and/or a public health claim ( UNICEF 2008 ). So why do so many people not have access to adequate sanitation (fig. 1)? This post will go some way to answering that question by looking at political obstacles affecting an individual’s ability to claim this right. But first I’ll contextualise this post by looking at how historical legac...