Africa's Water Paradox: Rivers Flow While Crops Dry
| By Marc Reflects Sometimes the greatest form of scarcity is not the absence of resources, but the inability to see and use the resources already around us. I have always believed that seeing is a skill, not a given. Two people can stand in the same place and walk away having noticed entirely different things. One sees a problem. Another sees an opportunity. One sees a challenge. Another sees a solution waiting to be discovered. During a recent field research visit, I stood in a maize field and was reminded of this truth. The leaves had lost their healthy green color. Some stalks were already wilting under a relentless sun. The farmers I spoke with were worried. The rains had delayed, and with each passing day, the possibility of a poor harvest grew more real. When I asked what was happening, the answer came immediately: "We are waiting for the rain." There was nothing unusual about that response. Farmers across Africa have relied on rainfall for generations....