非洲分析：结束非洲的慢性饥饿周期

田野在炎热的阳光下裸露，每年过时的温度升高。任何农作物都没有被摧毁，害虫都没有销毁，许多农作物都有农民，他们无能为力。[1]现在，关于整个非洲饥饿的新闻每天都成为大众媒体的头条新闻。[2]

在全球范围内，饥饿水平是最高的。[3]实际上，根据饥荒预警系统网络的说法，2017年，超过7,000万人将需要食品紧急援助，非洲是四个国家中的三个国家，被视为面临面临的关键风险famine：尼日利亚，南苏丹，苏丹和也门。[4]

“许多非洲小农户农民依靠雨水养农业，而且由于去年的降雨不足，因此许多农民从未收获过任何农作物。”beplay下载官网西西软件

阿拉巴马州奥本大学的Esther Ngumbi。美国

African governments, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and humanitarian relief agencies, including the United Nations World Food Programme, continue to launch short-term solutions such as food relief supplies to avert the situation. Kenya, for example, is handing cash transfers and food relief to its affected citizens. The UN World Food Programme is also distributing food to drought-stricken Somalia. [5] And in Zambia, the政府正在采用包括军队在内的每种工具来打击害虫侵扰。[6]

但是我们为什么在这里？发生了什么？为什么干旱如此大？

长期饥饿的原因

Many African smallholder farmers depend on rain-fed agriculture, and because last year’s rains were inadequate, many farmers never harvested any crops. Indeed, failed rains across parts of the Horn of Africa have led to the current drought that is affecting Somalia, south-eastern Ethiopia and northern and eastern Kenya. [7]

然后，即使在适当降雨的国家，许多农民也必须在枯竭的土壤上耕种，因此产量较低。降解土壤和对雨水喂养的依赖beplay下载官网西西软件加上种植错误的农作物品种，是导致收成不佳然后饥饿的一些基本问题。恶化情况是不可预测的气候。鉴于这些基本和基本的问题助长了非洲的饥饿周期，因此应对它们自然是有意义的。

It is not rocket science.农业与水齐头并进。没有它就不会有耕种。尽管这似乎很容易推理，但很少有组织正在努力确保非洲农民和公民可以使用永久性水源。一年四季都可以使用水源来确保农民可以年复一年地耕种。

非洲政府必须做什么

因此，非洲政府必须投资确保其公民能够使用水。可以实施的措施包括钻孔和修复钻孔，创建水库和灌溉系统，建造手动泵并实施水收集方案。这样的措施将有很长的路要走，并确保各国在短期和长期期间继续遇到相同的问题。

“如果非洲想结束反复的干旱，就必须做出艰难的决定。”

阿拉巴马州奥本大学的Esther Ngumbi。美国

当然，可以理解的是，很难选择长期解决方案，例如确保公民在现在需要帮助的人时，一年四季都可以使用短期解决方案来获得永久性水源。

Acknowledging this dilemma, Mitiku Kassa, the Ethiopia’s commissioner for disaster risk management, is reported to have described how hard it was to direct even a fifth of his budget towards well drilling. [8] But such decisions must be made. The Ethiopian government still made that tough decision and sunk hundreds of bore wells throughout the country.

在整个非洲大陆上，迫切需要加大收获和保护工作。非洲政府和其他利益相关者需要增加对多种水库技术的投资。这样的技术包括雨水和洪水收集以及水库池塘和水坝的建造。但是不需要重新发明轮子。

是时候向他人学习

African countries can learn from other countries. Countries in the developed world have sustained their agriculture efforts by either drilling water wells to ensure they have access to the water they need for farming or by investing in rain and flood water harvesting. In the United States, California, for example, there have been a rise in the number of wells being drilled by farmers who use well water for farming. [9] In 2016 alone, farmers in the San Joaquin Valley dug about 2,500 wells, a number that was five times the annual average reported in the last 30 years.

Countries such as Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand have made progress and are working on pilot projects that capture, harvest and store flood water. [10] Stored water is then available for use by communities when they need it the most. Harvesting and storing water and making it available for agriculture, especially during the dry seasons, will allow citizens and smallholder farmers to farm throughout the year. These would further improve the resilience of farmers to the unpredictable气候变化。

如果非洲想结束反复的干旱，则必须做出艰难的决定。通过解决农业长期供水的基本和基本问题，非洲国家可以一劳永逸地解决这个永无止境的饥饿周期。beplay下载官网西西软件

Esther Ngumbi是美国阿拉巴马州奥本大学昆虫学和植物病理学系的博士后研究员。她是2015年克林顿全球大学（CGI U）农业导师，并且是阿斯彭学院（Aspen Institute）的2015年新声音研究员。beplay下载官网西西软件可以通过enn0002@tigermail.auburn.edu与她联系

这件作品由Scidev.net的撒哈拉以南非洲英语桌子制作。