Urban Africa's Water Crisis

Showers (2002) asserts that much of Urban Africa confronts or will confront water scarcity. She reviews literature of the last decade on the topic of Urban Africa’s water supply, claiming that most theories are centred around water pricing, distribution and sanitation infrastructure. More recently, the debate has been on the origins of increased fresh water, how and where it should be disposed of, and implications of both for rural landscapes and for urban planning and policy.
Before continuing with the subject of water in Urban Africa, let’s just define ‘Urban Africa’. An urban area refers to a city’s major population centres; in Africa, this can vary from district capitals to megacities due to vast variations in population across the continent.

Okay, back to business… where does urban African water come from? The UN (1973; cited in Showers, 2002) claim that in the early 70s, the primary source of water was ground water through springs, boreholes and wells. In the 1990s, urban areas began to collect water through construction of barrages, dams and reservoirs. Thus it can be seen, that more recently, both surface water and groundwater is used as a water source in Africa. Showers (2002) shows the changes in urban water sources between the 1970s and 1990s in the table below.

So what happens after the water is used. Well, it either goes through domestic and industrial waste management systems or it undergoes aquatic consequences (Abiodun, 1997 ; cited in Rakodi, 1997). In the next post, I will discuss sanitation and waste management systems. However, for now, I will leave you with another table of the astonishing quality of water in Urban Africa, provided by Showers (2002).

Indicators of National Water Scarcity

Meadows et al., posit that scarcity is merely a function of two things: demand and availability. Thus, only these two direct factors can be influenced to alter national scarcity levels. Meadows takes a neo-Malthusian standpoint on the water crisis and uses population growth as an indicator of national water scarcity. Under the assumption of fixed resource availability and demand increase as a function of population growth, she uses renewable water resources per capita as an indicator of national scarcity. Due to the underlying assumptions, water scarcity can only be deemed ‘worse’ if there is a larger populations needs to satisfy. However, the key criticisms here derive from the underlying, unrealistic assumption of fixed resource availability. Some countries may have a higher capacity to cope with water scarcity than others e.g. through imports (virtual water).

Through figure 1 (above), Konar and Caylor illustrate the virtual water trading links in Africa. They also demonstrate the negative correlation between the proportion of African nations undernourished and virtual water trade openness, in the graph below.

If we now assess the UNEP map of global water scarcity distribution (below), we can see that the countries facing water scarcity in Africa include: Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Malawi, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe. 

 When comparing this distribution map with Konar and Caylor’s representation of virtual water trading, we can see that most countries importing the most water are also under conditions of water scarcity. These countries include: Algeria, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Libya, and Kenya. South Africa however, exports more water than it imports and is facing water scarcity; we will look at reasons for this in later posts.

There are also some more complex indicators of national scarcity that are used. These may be weighted indicators such as Ohlsson’s, which is a combination of the water scarcity index and the human development index. Ohlsson’s index accounts for capacity to adapt to increasing national water scarcity however, it measures this through proxy indicators, as opposed to direct links.

Sullivan proposes a water poverty index, in which she captures water availability, access to water and sanitation, and time/effort used to access water for domestic usage.

Feitelson and Chenoweth suggest an economic water scarcity index, assessing the cost of sustaining of supplying a nations’ clean, viable water and sanitation services against the backdrop of the nations income. This allows the evaluation of whether a nation can afford to have sustainable water and sanitation services. Some countries may have little or no direct access to water, but if they can sustainably afford to import their water and sanitation supply, they will escape water scarcity.  This index however, relies on the collation of a lot of data, which may not be accessible, especially for poorer nations.

In theory, virtual water trading should be lowering water scarcity as nations share water resources. However, this is not the case, mainly because countries cannot afford to import as much water as they need. The affordability of a populations’ basic needs of water and sanitation seems to be at the core of the water and sanitation crisis in Africa. This is the very reason I’m so interested in the economic water crisis. Arguably, this sheds an economic light on the scarcity paradigm. It implies that scarcity does translate into access. If a nation cannot afford access to water, it may be at risk of becoming water scarce. The affordability of access however, may depend on a number of factors. Conflict of transboundary waters and hydropolitics are just two factors, which may influence the cost of sustainable water and sanitation services.

The next posts will address this situation, specifically in urban Africa! I hope you’re finding this as interesting as I am, and please, feel free to comment with your opinion! I’d love to hear different opinions and arguments on the water and sanitation crisis!

Water and Sanitation: An Introduction

As Sean Fox illustrates with figure 1, thus far, the population has continued to grow at an exponential rate. In 1804, the population reached 1 billion. 211 years later, in July 2015, the population was estimated to be at 7.3 billion. The population has increased seven-fold since 1804. With this population explosion, came an exponential increase in the level of urbanisation. However, population growth, coupled with higher concentrations of populations in urban areas has combined to create a strain on resources. Supply of resources, including water and services such as sanitation are struggling to keep up with demand. This is how the water and sanitation crisis was born.

Falkenmark et al. (1989) described water scarcity as conditions such that, renewable freshwater resources are below 1000m³/person/year. Charles Vörösmarty et al. posit that water scarcity occurs when a ratio of estimated annual freshwater demand to availability exceeds 0.4.

Here, Jonathan Chenoweth illustrates the correlation between GDP per capita (PPP US$) and total renewable water resources for the year 2000. As shown, there tends to be a positive correlation; as GDP increases, so does total renewable water resources. The scarcity paradigm questions whether there is a direct link between water scarcity and access to water.

Chenoweth explores a plethora of parameters that influence whether scarcity translates into access. These factors may be physical, socio-economic or political. He concludes that socio-economic development is the primary determinant of a country’s ability to meet its population’s basic needs, not the natural environment.

As shown in figure 1, the detonation of the population bomb led to rapid urbanisation. It is for this reason that I have a particular interest in Africa’s urban environments, especially megacities. Chenoweth’s assertion has also inspired me to focus this blog around what is referred to as the ‘economic water crisis’. In the following posts, I will address these issues:

1. Indicators of national scarcity
2. The link between scarcity and access
3. The reality of the water and sanitation crisis in urban Africa
4. The distribution of water and sanitation resources within Africa’s megacities