Water Crisis In Africa
Indeed the water situation in sub saharan africa remains characterised by the difficult access to this resource the poor supply management of watering places and the high costs of water network connections.
Water crisis in africa. Climate change has affected water supplies within the region. As we all know now hand washing is one of the best frontline defenses against the virus. Issues and challenges it is estimated that by 2030 75 million to 250 million people in africa will be living in areas of high water stress which will likely displace anywhere between 24 million and 700 million people as conditions become increasingly unlivable. This huge region extends from the maghreb comprising morocco algeria tunisia libya and sometimes mauritania into the mashriq comprising.
For example in durban the dams are 20 percent lower than at the start of 2010. The who 2006 stated that in 2004 only 16 of people in sub saharan africa had access to drinking water through a household connection an indoor tap or a tap in the yard. According to findings presented at the 2012 conference on water scarcity in africa. However this is not true.
The water crisis is caused by a nearly decade long drought. The covid 19 crisis has laid bare the importance of access to clean water sanitation and hygiene. The water issue is a major problem for people in sub saharan africa. According to the unicef rainfall has decreased by half since 2008 and many shallow wells and cisterns have since dried up.
This water crisis only adds to the obstacles that local businesses must now face which include surviving an economic recession a national lockdown and load shedding anc representatives. Due to this fact cities are looking to impose water restrictions on communities. There are many reasons that attribute to this growing water crisis in south africa. Water availability has for millennia shaped the culture of the people in the part of the world now commonly referred to as the middle east and north africa.
Rains that usually come and supply the country s water has come infrequently. Not only is there poor access to readily accessible drinking water even when water is available in these small towns there are risks of contamination due to several factors. Weak governments corruption mismanagement of resources poor. Yet three billion people almost half of the world s population lack access to basic hand washing.
Sub saharan africa suffers from chronically overburdened water systems under increasing stress from fast growing urban areas. The problem is not the lack of water but the lack of clean drinking water.