Advances in Quantifying Impact and Extent of Water-Land-Food Nexus for Food Security in Africa

Abstract

Food systems have the potential to promote human health and enhance environmental sustainability; yet most African countries have decadal starvation and malnourishment due to unstable food systems lacking basic nutritional profiles. To understand the key questions of the African food production and food security crisis, it is important to evaluate the past and the present balance of food production and consumption quantitatively and comprehensively and identify resource constraints. This continental study analyzed water-land-food (WLF) nexus in recent decades (1997-2017) and accessed whether these resources cope with different population growth projections, dietary changes and agricultural water management. The findings revealed that in 2017, total production in Africa for the four major crops was 83.3, 34.1, 21.0 and 26.7 million tons for, respectively, maize, rice, sorghum and wheat. Together with the imported food, 38 countries experienced an increase in kcal by food supply, while 7 countries encountered a decrease. However, only 6 countries were above the 1500 kcal ∙ capita − 1 ∙ day − 1 —the global average food consumption from the four major crops. The study also found that in the context of food production and out of the total African population, 268 million (21.6%) have enough land and water, 310 million (25.0%) is without enough land and water, further 279 million (22.5%) have enough water but not enough land, and 381 million (30.8%) encounter enough land but not enough water. This is the first WLF nexus study for the African continent and emphasizes the need for efficient and rapid changes in the food systems of the African population, both in production and consumption, in order to provide sustainable and secure food systems, and ultimately approach the first three Sustainable Development Goals.