Climate Change, Water Scarcity, and the UNICEF TAP Project

In the eighth meeting of the Africa Partnership Forum in Berlin, 2007, it was agreed that, "Although Africa is the continent least responsible for climate change, it is particularly vulnerable to the effects, including reduced agricultural production, worsening food security, the increased incidence of both flooding and drought, spreading disease and an increased risk of conflict over scarce land and water resources. "

An example of this coming to head are the events the Malawi people, who survive solely on their substance farming, have been dealing with. Recently  Malawian farmers are seeing that once-dependable rainfall is becoming increasingly erratic. When they do experience rainfall, it is on the extreme end of the spectrum, so they are thrown back and forth between droughts and floods.

If you're not a Malawian farmer this might seem unrelated to your trip, but keep in mind that these floods are not limited to small village areas. An unplanned flood or intense drought can put both physical and financial strains on your trip. This is why it is so important to do careful research into the weather of the country you are visiting- right up until your trip.

You can also learn what you can do to help developing countries struggling with water shortages and droughts like the Malawian farmers. Programs like the UNICEF TAP Project make it easy for modern, every day people to help families in developing countries by doing one simple thing- not using your cell phone. For every TEN minutes someone is on the UNICEF TAP Project website and doesn't move or use their cell phone, one day's worth of water is donated to a person in need (all through UNICEF's private sponsors). You are not charged, nor is your phone account billed for anything. It's as simple as going on the website then leaving your phone alone for the duration of a shower, a nap, a work meeting, a goodnight's sleep, etc.

No credit card/personal/private information. No downloading anything. It's that simple.

Though there are many other programs that aim to give help to people in developing countries (whether it be through food, medical aid, or water aid) I've never seen a program that made it so simple and effortless for everyday people to help.

Do yourself a favor, and click this link to learn more. It doesn't get much easier than this.

http://tap.unicefusa.org/



Also check out Lucy's prior post about how the water shortages affect African Communities, and what you can do to help. ( A lot of useful tips and advice for water usage on your trip to Africa!)


http://africaspeakstourist.blogspot.com/2014/03/environmental-impact-on-communities.html




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If you have any interesting links, blogs or websites about Travel to Africa that you would like us to share, feel free to leave a comment. Once we double check that it's a credible source and it is approved, we will post journal entries with cool links to check out.






Important Links:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/01/01/250482654/malawian-farmers-say-adapt-to-climate-change-or-die

http://www.africapartnershipforum.org//meetingdocuments/38897900.pdf

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112073582