Shirley Mambadzo
Charles Mambadzo
The World Environment Day was observed on 5 June under the theme “Only One Earth”. The general appeal from the environmentalists is for all of us to protect the earth and live sustainably in harmony with nature. The earth’s natural systems cannot cope with our unstainable ways of living. A team of researchers led by the Stockholm Resilience Centre reassessed the planetary boundary for freshwater use and concluded that the safe operating space for freshwater use is overshot as announced by the Embedding project in their April newsletter.
The planetary boundaries framework defines the safe operating space for humanity, that is necessary to ensure the stability of the earth’s systems. Transgressing the boundaries of the critical biophysical processes is risky for the earth’s system.
It increases the risk of poverty and deterioration of human well-being because of the destabilisation of the interactions between land, ocean, atmosphere, biodiversity and humans.
Other boundaries that are transgressed are; climate change, land-system change, biogeochemical flows, biosphere integrity and novel entities. Freshwater includes “blue water” (water from rivers, lakes and aquifers) and “green water” (water from rainfall, soil moisture, and evaporation). There is an agreement among researchers that agriculture is the major driver of the boundaries that are transgressed.
Agriculture, especially crop production, accounts for 70% of the earth’s freshwater use. The World Water Assessment Programme estimated that agricultural water consumption will increase by 19% by 2050. The projected water consumption increase of freshwater for agriculture also threatens the groundwater levels.
Local efforts to safeguard our scarce water resources
The announcement of the new assessment of the planetary boundaries was made after the commemoration of World Wetland and World Water Day on the 22 of March 2022.
This year’s theme is “Groundwater-Making the invisible visible” and multiple stakeholders convened to discuss the importance of safeguarding groundwater sources, water use and supply.
At the engagement workshop organised by the Terra Urbana (TUR) in conjunction with the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), stakeholders discussed the Multifunctional strategies for resilient water security in the eastern Erongo region (MultiReWaS).
The workshop provided an excellent platform for sharing knowledge on the current strategies and goals of all the relevant stakeholders in the water industry.
The impact of climate change, population growth, and intensification of water-intensive industries (especially mining) could put national water security at even greater risk.
Overcoming planetary crisis in agri sector
The growing population and demand for food means that more land will have to be cultivated for crop production and management of resources is essential to reduce the impacts on the planetary boundaries.
A more balanced consumption-production approach is needed, overall, in which agriculture plays a key part in a complex, and highly consolidative food system.
Water management is considered a Social-Ecological System (SES) and any approach should consider the interactions and impacts between the ‘natural system’ and the ‘human system’.
A holistic approach should therefore be employed to create opportunities that may help to smooth the transition from business-as-usual to a more sustainable food system.
Innovative strategies that take into consideration the socio-economic, technical and ecological realities of Namibia are needed to secure and improve the sustainable and safe supply, access and use of water resources.
The improvement of agriculture and the overall food system is perceived as being a significant step toward protecting the earth’s limited resources and implementing sustainable development goals.
*Shirley Mambadzo is a PGDip Sustainable Development graduate from Stellenbosch University and part-time agribusiness entrepreneur. Charles Mambadzo is a horticulturalist and co-founder of Eden Greenfields. Views and opinions expressed in this article are their own, for questions and comments send an e-mail to shirley@edengreenfields.com and charles@edengreenfields.com