Politics of Water Conclusions

This is my final blog post and will go over some of the key points and conclusions I have drawn from my explorations of the politics of water and development in Africa. My aim from this post is to tie together the incredibly variegated topics that I examined in my seven posts.

Looking in particular at the politics of water, it is obvious that questions of water access and provision are inherently political. This is the case whether it is the local politics of massai herders vs. farmers, or the nation-state level geopolitics of dam building. The politics of water in Africa plays out between many different stakeholders and at many different levels.

I have particularly enjoyed examining water in Africa from a different perspective every week; travelling through different countries and communities and learning about so many new places.

What follows will be some of the key points and main conclusions that have arisen during my blogs.

Importance of Water

Firstly, looking at the politics of water highlights its sheer necessity and importance; it is essential for the survival and flourishing of nations. This significance is exemplified by the lengths people are willing to go to secure water; building huge-scale dams, engaging in bloody conflicts or walking miles everyday to collect it. Furthermore, clean water is also essential in mitigating water-borne diseases which can be fatal, such as the 2000 cholera outbreak in Johannesburg affecting over 100,000 people.

Water is always political

My next key idea is that, due to its importance, the provision and access to water is always political. Often water provision may not be logical or technocratical, but rather politically motivated such as Kwame Nkrumah’s building of the Akosombo Dam. The dam was a huge political symbol for Ghana’s post-independence movement towards industrialisation rather than a merely practical method of generating hydroelectric power. A further example of the politicality of water is the Nile Basin conflict over water access; whilst it may be logical to provide water based on need (such as population size), Egypt takes the vast majority of river flow due its strong geopolitical power. The representations of water in Africa are also political in the way they portray subjects. My blog post on representation highlighted that often Africa can be stereotyped as poor and helpless in order to gain sympathy and donations for charity. However  this can be incredibly harmful, and thus greater consideration about the representation of water in Africa is needed.

Water access and provision is incredibly varied

The politics of water in Africa manifests itself in many different forms and a method of water provision can work in one place but not another. It must be noted that Africa is not a country – it has incredibly varied climates, peoples, politics etc. and thus there isn’t a one-size fits all solution to water issues. This is exemplified by water privatisation which worked well in Cote D’Ivoire, yet had seriously negative implications for water access and quality in the Dolphin Coast, South Africa. Further to this point, it is important to think critically about water in Africa and look past potential stereotypes such as ‘privatisation is always bad’. To find solutions to Africa’s water concerns, innovative ideas are needed and open-mindedness will certainly help. For example solar-powered wells in Kenya reducing conflict over water.

Cooperation over conflict

Finally, I have found that in all cases cooperation is far more useful than conflict and will lead to better outcomes for all parties. My blog post on the relationship between water scarcity and conflict highlighted that the popular media has forwarded a dystopian view of the increasing water scarcity in Africa. However examples of farmer-herder discussions in Tanzania, or River Basin initiatives such as on the Nile show that cooperation is certainly possible and has helped significantly. If we are to tackle Africa’s increasing water scarcity, cooperation is to be needed far more than conflicts.

I hope you have enjoyed my blogs over the last term and learned from them as much as I have. Please let me know if you have any questions or feedback about my blog posts.