9.2.2.5 Water access and management

Water access and water resource management are highly variable across the continent (Ashton, 2002; van Jaarsveld et al., 2005; UNESCO-WWAP, 2006). The 17 countries in West Africa that share 25 transboundary rivers have notably high water interdependency (Niasse, 2005). Eastern and southern African countries are also characterised by water stress brought about by climate variability and wider governance issues (Ashton, 2002; UNESCO-WWAP, 2006). Significant progress has, however, been recorded in some parts of Africa to improve this situation, with urban populations in the southern African region achieving improved water access over recent years (van Jaarsveld et al., 2005). Despite this progress, about 35 million people in the region are still using unimproved water sources; the largest proportion being in Mozambique, followed by Angola, South Africa, Zambia and Malawi (Mutangadura et al., 2005). When water is available it is often of poor quality, thus contributing to a range of health problems including diarrhoea, intestinal worms and trachoma. Much of the suffering from lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation is borne by the poor, those who live in degraded environments, and overwhelmingly by women and children. The relevance of the problem of water scarcity is evident in North Africa, considering that estimates for the average annual growth of the population are the world’s highest: 2.9% for the period 1990-2002. The Water Exploitation Index^[2] is high in several countries in the sub-region: >50% for Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Sudan, and >90% for Egypt and Libya (Gueye et al., 2005). Until recently, these countries have adopted a supply-oriented approach to managing their water resources. However, managing the supply of water cannot in itself ensure that the needs of a country can be met in a sustainable way.

Attributing sensitivity and vulnerability in the water sector solely to variations in climate is problematic. The complex interactions between over-fishing, industrial pollution and sedimentation, for example, are also degrading local water sources such as Lake Victoria (Odada et al., 2004), which impacts on catches. Integrated analyses of climate change in Egypt, moreover, show that population changes, land-use changes and domestic growth strategies may be more important in water management decision-making than a single focus on climate change (Conway, 2005).