We need the will for a way out for Africa.
I am not a scientist, so I put these questions to a scientist friend of mine: could desalination plants be designed to turn sea water into drinking water?
Could such research be made a priority?
Could the resulting fresh water be piped into the African interior and used to irrigate vast areas of desert land?
Would such a project be impractically expensive?
He answered yes to these presumably naive questions, with the proviso that they would cost a great deal of money.
What’s the problem, I asked, given the wealth enjoyed by governments and people across the world?
Lack of will, he replied.
Can we not find the will?
Isn’t such a project exactly what the world needs to help it out of its present slough of bitterness and aggression?