Blog 8 - Concluding thoughts
Over the course of these blogs, the dynamics of politics involved with water supply and provision have been explored. The role of governments, private companies and citizens have all been explored during these blogs with the aim of providing the reader with a sense of the factors at play with how water is provided, through a political lens. The overarching theme from all the blogs is how a government (or indeed governments) can best provide for the needs of their populations and the best solutions for the problems at hand now and in the future. Let us recap what has been covered: Climate change projections and initiatives to mitigate against said risks, the case for and against privatisation of water supplies, an insight into transboundary waters and the conflict and latterly the cooperation that it entails and lastly the idea of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) and its' applicability to Africa.
Climate Change:
In the 2 blogs done on climate change, we examined the likely effect of climate change upon particularly rainfall intensity and intermittency. From that we explored the likely impact of changing rainfall patterns on groundwater levels and thus potential risks of food insecurity. In addition, strategies were explored which involved all 3 actors - government, business and communities to develop effective risk mitigation against climate change using examples from Zambia, Niger, Malawi and Ethiopia. These strategies were multi faceted involving schemes designed to encourage insuring against loss through economic incentives provided by the Government (Ethiopia), schemes designed to maintain food stocks (insurance against groundwater level falls) in the present and for the future through private enterprise that involved everyone from banks down to farmers (Malawi), as well as schemes designed to adapt to the physical conditions of the potentially affected area (Niger and Zambia). All 4 of the mentioned schemes are evidence of populations, governments and enterprises appreciating, adapting and developing to the conditions surrounding them.
Privatisation - for and against:
The subject of public and private water supplies also came to the fore during the blogs. In one blog, a case was made for privatisation using the relatively successful case study of Gabon as a paragon of the benefits of privatisation. Conversely, using the case study of Guinea, a case was made against privatising water supplies. This was particularly eye opening as one soon realises that there is no one catch all to such a question; that is to say, there are many factors such as infrastructure and stability of government which are likely to determine whether privatising water supplies will likely be successful or not. This particular issue is integral to the issue of water and development as the whole crux of the case for (and against) is that the private sector can provide a better service to more of the population at a more cost effective rate. The emphasis of getting it right exemplifies the political nature of water supply in Africa as much of the population of many countries is heavily reliant on steady and efficient water supply.
Transboundary Waters:
The blog on Transboundary Waters gave us a particular insight into the political dynamic of managing water supplies over 2 different territories. This particular blog examined how the nature of relationships between countries over water resources using the example of the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam (GERD). The GERD example highlights the potential source of conflict between upper riparians and lower riparians on transboundary waters. What was particularly interesting about this blog was that one could see the change over time in how interactions were carried out. Formerly, the lower riparians had more say than upper riparians but recently we have seen a shift (since Nile Basin Initiative) towards a more cooperative and discourse driven means of recourse between actors. That is to say, water has become more of a politics of dialogue than a politics of power of late.
Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM):
Moving on from the transboundary waters, the next blog focused on Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) which is a new philosophy or initiative designed to involve all people in the process of managing resources rather than the top down approach which had been prevalent before. This blog provides a basis for the future of water development in Africa and does, in a way, link in with the example mentioned above with GERD. Although, it can be argued, that much of Africa isn't yet ready for such a scheme on account of lack of credible governance to see it through.
To conclude, the main overarching theme drawn out from this series of blogs is co-operation. Be it governments co-operating with each other, governments and their populations co-operating, governments and enterprises or governments, enterprises and populations all in tandem co-operating to better manage water in Africa. The example of GERD highlights the co-operation between governments, the strategies to mitigate against the risk to groundwater from climate change highlights the multi-faceted approach whilst the the provision of water gives us an insight into the relationship between governments and corporations. Moreover, in the final analysis, these blogs, hope to demonstrate that development in relation to water resources is multi-faceted and significant development will only take place when an approach which includes governments, the people and enterprises come to fruition.
Climate Change:
In the 2 blogs done on climate change, we examined the likely effect of climate change upon particularly rainfall intensity and intermittency. From that we explored the likely impact of changing rainfall patterns on groundwater levels and thus potential risks of food insecurity. In addition, strategies were explored which involved all 3 actors - government, business and communities to develop effective risk mitigation against climate change using examples from Zambia, Niger, Malawi and Ethiopia. These strategies were multi faceted involving schemes designed to encourage insuring against loss through economic incentives provided by the Government (Ethiopia), schemes designed to maintain food stocks (insurance against groundwater level falls) in the present and for the future through private enterprise that involved everyone from banks down to farmers (Malawi), as well as schemes designed to adapt to the physical conditions of the potentially affected area (Niger and Zambia). All 4 of the mentioned schemes are evidence of populations, governments and enterprises appreciating, adapting and developing to the conditions surrounding them.
Privatisation - for and against:
The subject of public and private water supplies also came to the fore during the blogs. In one blog, a case was made for privatisation using the relatively successful case study of Gabon as a paragon of the benefits of privatisation. Conversely, using the case study of Guinea, a case was made against privatising water supplies. This was particularly eye opening as one soon realises that there is no one catch all to such a question; that is to say, there are many factors such as infrastructure and stability of government which are likely to determine whether privatising water supplies will likely be successful or not. This particular issue is integral to the issue of water and development as the whole crux of the case for (and against) is that the private sector can provide a better service to more of the population at a more cost effective rate. The emphasis of getting it right exemplifies the political nature of water supply in Africa as much of the population of many countries is heavily reliant on steady and efficient water supply.
Transboundary Waters:
The blog on Transboundary Waters gave us a particular insight into the political dynamic of managing water supplies over 2 different territories. This particular blog examined how the nature of relationships between countries over water resources using the example of the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam (GERD). The GERD example highlights the potential source of conflict between upper riparians and lower riparians on transboundary waters. What was particularly interesting about this blog was that one could see the change over time in how interactions were carried out. Formerly, the lower riparians had more say than upper riparians but recently we have seen a shift (since Nile Basin Initiative) towards a more cooperative and discourse driven means of recourse between actors. That is to say, water has become more of a politics of dialogue than a politics of power of late.
Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM):
Moving on from the transboundary waters, the next blog focused on Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) which is a new philosophy or initiative designed to involve all people in the process of managing resources rather than the top down approach which had been prevalent before. This blog provides a basis for the future of water development in Africa and does, in a way, link in with the example mentioned above with GERD. Although, it can be argued, that much of Africa isn't yet ready for such a scheme on account of lack of credible governance to see it through.
To conclude, the main overarching theme drawn out from this series of blogs is co-operation. Be it governments co-operating with each other, governments and their populations co-operating, governments and enterprises or governments, enterprises and populations all in tandem co-operating to better manage water in Africa. The example of GERD highlights the co-operation between governments, the strategies to mitigate against the risk to groundwater from climate change highlights the multi-faceted approach whilst the the provision of water gives us an insight into the relationship between governments and corporations. Moreover, in the final analysis, these blogs, hope to demonstrate that development in relation to water resources is multi-faceted and significant development will only take place when an approach which includes governments, the people and enterprises come to fruition.
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