Lagos: Part 1

In the following blogs I will be discussing the Water and Sanitation Crisis in Africa’s biggest Megacities: Lagos and Cairo.

Lagos is on the South West coast of Nigeria and is home to one of the busiest and largest ports in Africa. The port and its exponential population growth has allowed it to prosper into one of the wealthiest African cities, in terms of GDP.

In 2006, the Nigerian Census (National Population Commission, Nigeria 2006) measured population at 9,113,605. However, it must be noted that the Nigerian Census is not highly regarded as population is closely related to the allocation of central government resources so states tend to exaggerate (Potts, 2012). The same is the case for the National Bureau of Statistics, who estimate Lagos’ 2015 population at 21,324,000, giving an estimated population density of 18,205/km². However, the UN estimated the population to be at over 17 million in 2015 (Gandy, 2006). Nonetheless, this population growth puts an immense strain on basic resources such as water and sanitation.

Whilst Lagos is a very wealthy African city, the wealth is distributed between millions of people, approximating per capita GDP at $5,573 (Canback Global Income Distribution Database, 2008). GDP figures also do not account for inequalities. Due to the sheer population size, many people are pushed into lower living standards, such as slums. Whilst the wealthy parts of Lagos have some water and sanitation systems implemented, the slums of Lagos are not so fortunate. Achebe (1960) describes Lagos as a twin city: one of electric lights, smartly dressed women and high-life music, the other of gloomy slums.

Upon reviewing some of the data from previous posts, I have found some examples of the inequality within Lagos. Domestic waste management was found to be treated by ineffective plants and disposed of in coastal lagoons. This has led to water pollution concerns in coastal lagoons and groundwater sources which are still contaminated with untreated effluents (including industrial waste). In particular, there has been a noted increase in levels of nitrates and other contaminants in groundwater (Showers, 2002). It has also been shown that a majority of the water supply in Lagos comes from groundwater and the Ogun River, a waterway which discharges into the Lagos Lagoon.

Africa's Megacities

The water and sanitation crisis in urban Africa seems to be exacerbated within its megacities. What is a megacity, you ask? Well, according to the United Nations, a megacity can be defined as a metropolitan area with a population in excess of 10 million people. However, the definition of a megacity does vary depending on the source used; some may include minimum population densities (e.g. 2000 people/km²) (Makinde, 2012). For the purpose of this blog, we’ll use the UN definition of 10 million people +.

The two major megacities of Africa are:

• Lagos, Nigeria
• Cairo, Egypt

Other recognised rapidly growing megacities in Africa include:

• Accra, Ghana
• Brazzaville/Kinshasa, Congo/DRC
• Dakar, Senegal
• Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• Johannesburg/Pretoria, South Africa
• Khartoum, Sudan
• Luanda, Angola
• Maputo, Mozambique
• Mombasa, Kenya
• Nairobi, Kenya 

To my dismay, I have found that tracking down an accurate current population figure for these cities are no small feat! Depending on the source, population data may be exaggerated or subdued. As there are so many people, living in such a range of conditions, even the accuracy of census data is questionable. Fertility and death rates are also so high and variable, that it is almost impossible to keep track of! However, should you not succeed, try, try and try again. According to the World Population Review (WPR), in 2014, Cairo’s population was approximately 12 million. Lagos’ population was estimated to be at an astonishing 21 million in 2014 (WPR, 2015). For now, I want to focus on the water and sanitation crisis in these two cities, as they are Africa’s biggest megacities.

Resources such as potable water and sanitation and waste systems are by no means of any abundance in urban Africa. Whilst megacities tend to be the wealthiest in terms of GNP, they also have an incredible demand to satisfy; as population rises, so does demand, leading to a strain on resources such as water and sanitation. Thus, in many areas of megacities, there are slums, which shelter the excess people that the city cannot. There are also very affluent areas of megacities, which provide excellent water and sanitation services. Over the next posts, I aim to look at the exact causes of the water and sanitation crisis in Lagos and Cairo, and the most impacted areas, hopefully to reveal the incredible inequality within these urban African megacities.

Urban Africa's Sanitation Crisis

More often than not, the poor quality of water in Africa can be attributed to either sanitation or waste management (including that of companies).

Last post I explored an article written by Kate Showers on the quality and quantity of water supply in Urban Africa. Today I would like to focus more on the quality of water. The table below from Showers (2002) shows the domestic waste management in some Urban African areas.

As you can see, most of the urban areas shown have few sewage treatment plants. Latrines are mostly used for household sanitation with the expectation that the surrounding soil will purify it. Some few households use septic systems and even fewer use water-borne sanitation. According to Showers, in 2002, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe were the only African countries to have treatment for industrial waste such as, acids, chemicals and heavy metals. Most sewage, treated/untreated end up in streams or oceans. This gives rise to the pollution of groundwater, streams and coastal regions.

The main source of contamination of key groundwater sources includes latrines, soils, climates, and industrial and mining waste leading to increased levels of nitrates and leachates. Due to this, streams can become so polluted that they cannot be used as potable water sources; this is the case in Addis Abba. Industrial waste in the Peleng River near Lobatse contributed to the Nairobi River being described as an open sewer. Furthermore, contamination of the lower River Nile, has led to a decline in freshwater availability in Cairo (Myllala, 1995) and Alexandria, thus contributing to the water crisis in such locations. These are just a few examples of the extent of water contamination in Urban Africa that can be attributed to sanitation and waste treatment. More examples can be seen in the figure below (Showers, 2002), which also appeared in my last post:

More often than not, people do not have a full understanding of the extent to which sanitation and waste treatment affects the water supply. Water must be clean to be considered as part of the potable water supply! Sanitation is integral to the water supply and it is for this reason that we study the water and sanitation crisis in tandem. Next post we will begin to hone further in on the focus of my blog: Megacities!!!

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