The 'Next Oil' - Hydropolitics in Africa

Waiting at the Tap - Local Hydropolitics Water is highly political especially as resources become more stressed. In the previous blogs we have explored the international dimensions of hydropolitics, hydropolitics are multi-scalar though and also extend to a local scale. Cities are becoming increasingly unequal and disparities between urban and rural dwellers continue to increase. The inequalities of water resources and the infrastructures which provide this vital source of life have become increasingly politicized. Mother and Daughter fill jerry cans at a pump, Goma in The Democratic Republic of Congo - Source  The ‘Poolitical’ Water not only sustains us through sustenance with water and food, it also sustains us and our societies through sanitation and clearance of waste. Though as urban centres continue to swell the inequalities around the sanitation of urban life have become increasingly more apparent. Mcfarlane and Silver ( 2016 ) use the term ‘Poolitical

Squeezing Africa Dry - Water Grabbing In the preceding blogs we explored the forms of cooperation and conflict which arise from both surface water and groundwater resources. Within this blog post we'll explore the conflicts which arise from the exploitation of water resources by those actors that exist externally of the continent of Africa itself. The concept of water grabbing refers to 'situations where powerful actors take control of valuable water resources for their own benefit' ( Franco et al 2014 ) often resulting in inequitable distribution of these water resources. Water is life, from sustaining the ecosystems in which we rely to the agriculture which feeds us all. Agriculture is in fact the major driver of water grabbing with large scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) often resulting from the quest for water resources to sustain agricultural production on the acquired land ( Dell'Angelo et al 2018 ). Water grabbing therefore exists as a kin term to land grabbing.