Food and Water Security Solutions: Reflections on Mitigating Climate-induced Population Displacement in Africa

Dec 16, 2021 | Christopher Graham
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Worse, the Word Bank reports that climate change can potentially wipe out decades of social and economic progress in the developing world by displacing millions of people, many of whom will be pushed into poverty.

In my research, I’ve found that by transforming agricultural systems to support food security under the new conditions of climate change, climate-smart agriculture may help reduce the likelihood of population displacement due to food shortages or loss of economic security, particularly in agriculture-dependent rural communities.

In response to growing water shortages, water security projects are being implemented across the African continent at all levels. These range from short-term community projects (like digging water wells) to long-term cross-continental projects. For instance, the Nairobi Sanitation Project was established to restore water quality and supply to parts of Kenya’s highly populated capital.

The African Union and United Nations Framework to Combat Climate Change’s Task Force on Displacement are each already implementing regional and global plans to expand data gathering capabilities on climate science and socio-ecological impacts.