Political instability and an economic crisis are direct results of drought in Africa as well as food and water shortages. Because of drought and lack of food and water, leaders are unable to successfully lead the continent and supply the needs of the people. With the drought, the economy is unable to flourish due to lack of workers and an unappealing market for foreign investors. The faulty products and aid services do not give the help necessary to maintain their normal lives and produce crops necessary to survive.

            Without an adequate supply of water and food for the people of Africa, the continent is very hard to lead successfully. The diversity of Africa’s landscape and the variety of needs just adds to the problem of finding an easy solution. In the Somalia region, the main problems facing the people are inflation of food prices and loss of livestock which leads to starvation (article 1). While in the Ethiopian region, the main problems are lack of medical care, rains failing to come, and conflict between the government and the rebel group called the Ogaden National Liberation Front (article 2). In both of these regions, shortages of water have lead to increases in poverty and high levels of starvation. The government is taking the blame for many problems that they have no affect over, such as drought. The drought makes crops necessary for survival unable to grow in regions such as Eritrea. The diverse problems make everyone’s needs unable to be solved. The government wants to try to solve the immediate problems and just give food to the starving people. This does not solve any long term problems. When the food aid runs out, the people are still left in a desolate area with no water and are still unable to grow food. The government ought to be looking ahead for ways the people can have long term aid, such as building dams and new ways of irrigation, or by giving a farmers food for the livestock (article 7). Because the whole continent has many problems, leaders change frequently to try and solve every problem quickly. It would benefit all the people of Africa for one leader to take charge and make a plan over the next few years to solve Africa’s problems rather than just delaying them (article 7).

            The economy is in a steady downfall due to the lack of adequate food and water supplies as well as drought. The drought has caused many farmers to leave their farms and migrate to more urban areas due to the inability to produce crops (article 11). With all of the farmers abandoning their fields, the amount of exports has dramatically fallen. Not only do the farmers not export enough goods, they also are not producing enough food for their continent and their own families. With the amount of malnutrition of almost 100 million people all throughout Africa, people are unable to work (article 5). The only jobs people are able to get are jobs in large factories. But with the unstable food and water problems, the appeal for moving a big business to Africa is not high. The lack of jobs opening up and the physical state that many poor Africans are in make the economy a very unfavorable part of the continent.

            Drought is the main cause of the whole food and water problem. The lack of rain has made growing food impossible in many regions of Africa. The shortage of water for growing crops is down and people have to find alternative ways to survive other than farming. The drought also has killed livestock. The livestock is necessary for food, and the fur is used as material for clothes (article 8). The price of feed for the animals has risen so sharply that the poor farmers are unable to support the animals even if water is present in the area. One solution that failed to help bring water to people in the drought was prepaid water meters. The meters do allow people to have access to a limited supply of water daily. The problem with prepaid water meters is that they often have diseases or bacteria in them. The people that are using do not understand the health risks of the water meters and become angry when the government removes them (article 3). A political scientist Anthony Turton did testing on the water meters. He found out that they were carrying AID’s related diseases. Turton also said that the water treatment plan to make the water safe to drink is either too expensive or too complicated for local officials to create or perform. Turton’s research has lead to the creation of more wells and safer ways to obtain clean water. For his research, Turton was suspended by the government for all of his criticisms of the government’s ways of getting water to the poor (article 10). The irrigation systems and dams have been ruined due to lack of maintenance from capable people. The irrigation systems failing are another reason why farming has failed in Africa.

            Africa is a continent with many problems that can be solved over a long period of time. Some steps that should be taken are to invest in wells, pumps and other irrigation systems, to strengthen Africa’s civil society, and to make tools used in farming stronger (article 7.) Another thing to help is to bring awareness to the problems in Africa. The financial bailout of the United States on October 3, 2008 spent 700 billion dollars in aid to failing businesses in one day. In 2007, all of Africa received 104 billion dollars in aid (article 6). The food and water crisis is the basis of many other problems in Africa such as the number of educated people and the overall health of the continent. When the food and water crisis is solved, Africa will be a stronger and more stable continent.