My first foray into developing this water and food blog starts with a simple google search: “water in africa”.
Disturbingly, the first 15 google images google displays portray a rather pessimistic view of what the current situation in Africa is like. Water is present in limited quantities. If water is featured, then this water often looks brackish, from ground sources, filled in water buckets then placed on heads. The captions in fine print beneath them use phrases like (emphasis added in bold and caps):
“water SCARCITY in Africa”,
“water CRISIS in Africa…”,
“Africa is RUNNING OUT of water, PLAGUED…”,
“LACK OF CLEAN WATER in Africa: 10…” and
“UNICEF: 500 CHILDREN DIE every day…”.
The ellipsis at the end probably hints at how the caption is incomplete. Yet, the convenient words that are left together with the visuals perpetuate the narrative that Africa as a continent is facing a problem, it emphasises the backwardness of the region, country-specific nuances are copped out. This is a point that Wainaina (2006) encapsulates beautifully in her literary piece “How to Write about Africa”.
Granted, I can arguably see why this portrayal of Africa may be useful insofar as it instils a sense of urgency in its viewer to take action. The emotive response to the average reader is compelling and persuades action - a marketing technique useful for say non-profits looking at garnering donor support. However, when an entire google image search result portrays the same disillusioning narrative of Africa, it risks reducing Africa as a continent to a homogenous barren entity in need of saving.
This blog aims to critically review the water and food situation in Africa without stereotyping what Africa as a continent is or isn’t, what it has or hasn’t. It recognises that there is variability in Africa as a continent and seeks an answer that involves (uncomfortably) dabbling in grey areas.
In the next blog post, I critically review the concept of water scarcity/stress and its role in the Africa crisis.
Hey Clement, thank you so much for the comment! I remember having this conversation with you right after class. But decided for completeness, I shall post what we discussed here. I really liked the point that you brought up. And definitely yeah, I do think popular discourse has informed the way that we view Africa. But I'd like to think that the part on poor use of resources is less likely because presumably in depth research - preferably on the ground research - would have been done before allocating resources! I guess ultimately it is also a question of /who/ is allocating this resource and to whom! Thank you for your comment!
Hi Megan, I thought the use of the google search to illustrate the prevailing notion regarding the water situation in Africa was brilliant! As you mentioned, this portrayal may be used as a useful marketing technique, but do you also think that it having become pervasive in popular discourse may have led to hastily justified policy/actions which may have resulted in poor use of resources/aid and less than desirable outcomes? Could be an interesting angle to explore! Looking forward to see your future posts!