Giant_and_Dwarf-FIN

Giant and DwarfAquifers in Africa and their productivity.Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17775211Although many African countries often suffering from drought and consequent foodshortages have aquifers under the surface, they do not have financial resources comparableto Libya’s. A combination of poverty and poor knowledge and technical skills, however, inthe majority of African countries prevents even simpler and cheaper measures that wouldincrease their food security. For instance, even in arid areas of Botswana—in a countrywhere even the local currency is called “pula”, meaning rain—or in Tanzania and Kenya it isnot common to see gutters on the roofs. This means local people during the rainy seasonfail to capture rainwater from the roof and are not able to use it during the dry seasonor to irrigate their gardens and fields. During the rainy seasons they face the risk of localfloods—and during recurrent droughts thirst and hunger.Phosphates and phosphorous fertilizersLet me conclude this short list of acute threats to food security by mentioning one morerisk. In 2007, the Canadian physicist Patrick Déry applied an analytical approach of “peak oil”to the phosphate deposits which are the source of phosphate fertilizers. To his surprise he102