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 the resulting fresh water be piped into the African interior and used to irrigate vast areas of desert land? He answered yes to these presumably naive questions, with the proviso that they would cost a great deal of money. Isn’t such a project exactly what the world needs to help it out of its present slough of bitterness and aggression? Robin WilloughbyHead of food and climate policy and campaigns, Oxfam GB• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters

Source: The Guardian March 24, 2017 18:11 UTC