Concluding Notes

From this blog assignment, I have developed a more grounded understanding of the complex physical and human dynamics of (Southern) African hydropolitics. Here are some key ideas I have taken away:  

1. International treaties and transboundary management are elusive and gaps exist in the literature, which needs addressing especially concerning possible conflict over TBAs.
2. Power-relations between riparians largely dictate the use and distribution of transboundary water resources, thus South Africa predominates.
3. Transboundary dams seem to exacerbate, than fix, Southern Africa’s water supply, demand and climate change challenges.
4. Virtual water has great potential for SADC region; it reconciles South Africa’s thirst for economic development and regional hegemony while sustaining its environmental capital.

Focus: Virtual Food Remedy

As Professor Taylor has stated in lectures, water scarcity better reflects food insecurity yet ignored in water indices. Therefore, a hydropolitical solution for South Africa could be intra-regional virtual water. This is the hidden flow of water – see Figure 8 – needed to produce agricultural/food commodities (Allan 2003). “Water-deficit states can alleviate their ‘water stress’ by importing water-intense goods from water-rich states” and exporting water-minimal goods (Taylor 2004: 19). This reduces demand for water and allocates it to more efficient economies (Allan 2003).

Figure 8: Trade of virtual water. 

Source: Allan (2003).

Developing countries often use their environmental capital (i.e. water) beyond sustainable thresholds so to develop their economy and social welfare (Turton 1997). Agriculture is the largest water user in South Africa, importing 8km3 of virtual water annually – nearly matching Okavango’s river flow (10km3) (Earle 2005)! Most food is grown through green water trapped in soils; thus South Africa’s high evapotranspiration rates (low green water) make it unviable for staple food production (Earle and Turton 2003). Cultivating marginal land strips the vegetation, whose ‘sponge’ mitigates impacts of rainfall extremes and infiltrates to aquifer water tables (Earle 2005), therefore intensifying South Africa’s securitisation over transboundary waters and equitable use.

Nonetheless as South Africa’s economy modernises, it can expand and diversify which unlocks new options such as ‘virtual water’ (Turton 1997). Here, South Africa can buy staple foods in regional markets through money earned from more productive economies (using its water resources). Several neighbouring states, such as Angola and Zambia, are resource abundant and could become large-scale surplus grain producers, providing food for SADC region (Earle and Turton 2003). Once production capacity exists, richer water-stressed states, namely South Africa, can foster regional markets and thus open intra-regional virtual water trade. While water transfer schemes provide temporary production, investments for virtual water are low-cost, provide long-term employment and create market infrastructure (Earle and Turton 2003). 

Nevertheless, virtual water may recreate economic dependency (neo-colonialism) within the region between aforementioned impacted states (e.g. Lesotho, Zambia) and pivotal states (South Africa) (Taylor 2004). Likewise, these dependencies can be politically destabilising by removing self-reliance (Allan 2003). Even so, intra-regional virtual water trading creates conditions for better cooperation over transboundary waters, and can rebalance the water budget within the SADC region by reducing water demand (Allan 2003). This supports my promotion of Wolf’s (1999) notion that co-riparians should share the benefits of transboundary waters rather than physical spilt it equally!

References
Allan, J.A. (2003) “Virtual Water – The Water, Food and Trade Nexus: Useful Concept or Misleading Metaphor?”, Water International, 28, 1, 106-113.

Earle, A. (2005) “Hydropolitics in Southern Africa: What is the Prognosis for Peaceful Development of Shared Watercourses?” [WWW], Pretoria: African Water Issues Research Unit, University of Pretoria (https://www.unsiegen.de/zew/publikationen/volume0305/ earle.pdf; 10 Jan 2016).

Earle, A. and A.R. Turton (2003) “The Virtual Water Trade amongst countries of the SADC”, in A.Y. Hoekstra (ed.) Virtual Water Trade: Proceedings of the International Expert Meeting on Virtual Water Trade, Delft: IHE Delft, 183-200.  

Taylor, R.G. (2004) “Water Resources and Development Challenges in Eastern and Southern Africa”, In T. Bowyer-Bower and D. Potts (eds) East and Southern Africa: Regional Development Text, RGS-IBG Developing Areas Research Group, London: Addison-Wesley Longman, Chapter 8.

Turton, A.R. (1997) “Southern African Hydropolitics: Development Trajectories of Zambezi Basin States and South Africa” [WWW], paper presented at 2nd Southern Africa Water And Wastewater Conference, 15-19 September 1997, Harare (https://www.soas.ac.uk/ water/publications/papers/file38351.pdf; 10 Jan 2016).

Wolf, A.T. (1999) “Criteria for Equitable Allocations: The Heart of International Water Conflict”, Natural Resources Forum, 23, 3-15.