Assessment of Accessible Water Resources to Enhance Food Security in the Transboundary Congo River Basin
Abstract
The nine countries that share water and land resources of the Congo River Basin (CRB) are lagging behind in achieving food self-sufficiency and the Sustainable Development Goals. Violent conflicts have ruined most of the infrastructure that provide basic services. As the CRB countries expand their economic activities and focus on restoring basic services such as food, water and sanitation, the need also arises for accurate evaluation of available resources and their management. Here, we present an assessment of the spatiotemporal variability of hydrologic fluxes, as affected by the heterogeneities in climate, topography and land cover, assess the availability surface water resources, and explore the feasibility of increasing staple food production by enhancing water availability to smallholder agriculture systems. In the agricultural areas, precipitation is the only source of water and is less reliable. Crop yields remain very low due to lack of good cultivars, fertilizer and, as our assessment will highlight, water. Our evaluation reveal how precipitation and available surface water resources can be used to enhance crop production among smallholder farmers, provided other needed inputs are made available through systematic interventions. We propose that increasing land productivity among smallholder famers as a plausible solution that can considerably limit land use change, improve rural livelihoods and help achieve food self-sufficiency and environmental sustainability.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2022
- Bibcode:
- 2022AGUFM.U25A..06A