Conclusions and Recommendations

Abstract

There is enough water to meet world’s demand but uneven distribution has led to unequal access so that some countries and even individuals have more than others. Therefore there is need to share the available water through inter-basin cooperation and investing in joint projects by riparian partners while enforcing water quality management to curb man-induced scarcity. Success calls for strategies and policies that promote and support water quality management. Other undertakings including rainwater harvesting and building storages that regulate water availability over time support these strategies. However caution must be exercised to ensure that smaller storage facilities close to the farming land and settlements are considered alongside the large storages usually constructed for hydro-power generation. Additional strategies include economical irrigation methods such as drip irrigation that should be given priority over cheaper wasteful ones such as flood and sprinkler irrigation and reducing water loss through evaporation by storing water in underground aquifers. A holistic approach in the usage of both surface and ground water resources including inclusive smart partnerships and win–win situations should be encouraged and supported by governments, non-governmental organizations and donors alike.

Sustainability in Southern Africa, as elsewhere, begins with water availability (Mbuende 1996).

Appendix

South Africa will run dry by 2050, should no action be taken to conserve water. It is pertinent that the key players in South Africa’s food industry implement strict water saving measures through the use of water recycling, to help address the impending water deficit that is threatening food security and produce all around the country.

According to Gareth, Managing Director of Ecowize—a leading hygiene and sanitation company servicing the food sector, it is crucial for food producers and manufacturers to introduce elements of strict control through implementations of water saving disciplines, as water will always be a basic necessity.

“All industries need water and therefore more people need to make the effort to recycle water and come up with other innovative ways to save and protect natural water resources,” (Lloyd-Jones 2012).

According to Lloyd-Jones, there is a critical need for food producers and manufacturers to realize the magnitude of this crisis and to take responsibility and make concerted efforts to recycle water and prevent water wastage often caused by-pipe bursts, water leaks and unscheduled use of water.

“Cost-effective water-saving disciplines include having a water recycling system in place whereby used water is drained through a filtration process to rid all solids and then put through a chemical intervention to make it suitable and fit to use back into plant facilities. This water can then be used to wash areas down such as drive ways.”

Lloyd-Jones says companies should introduce universal benchmarks to set the right amount of water required for particular jobs, without any wastage. “This can be achieved via three important variables—value, the pressure and the temperature of the water.”

“These variables need to be balanced and measured on a periodic basis as this determines the problem. One way of doing this is by measuring where water pressures are fluctuating as this will expose inconsistencies or leaks by conducting thorough root cause analysis, farmers will be able to determine the cause of the problem and eliminate chances of it re-occurring”. Furthermore, he says in order to avoid unscheduled use of water, food producers and manufacturers need to introduce strict elements of control that set aside specific times that apparatuses such as hoses can be used. They can also use specially designed couplings that are manufactured to protect the hose against leaks.

Lloyd-Jones says food producers and manufacturers will also be able to save enormous amounts of water by providing staff with efficient water saving training that help to develop their skills and knowledge in order to enable them to identify the cause of water waste and ways to solve such problems.

“For best results and in order to ensure that staff make a concerted effort, farmers can implement water saving incentives such as performance pay systems, which are driven by how well staff obey set water saving disciplines,” says Lloyd-Jones.