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FSSDDI 97 135
OB:I'l'ED KAT:IOHS
ECOIIIOJll:C COJOlXSS:IOIil FOR AFJl:ICA
FOOD SECUlUTY AIiID SOS'fAIIIIlUILB DEVELOPIIBIiIT D:IV:IS:IOIII
or DTER RESOURCES 1111 AFJl:ICA
'/)?cp!li-er 1997
mrITED D'.rIOJIIS
ECOJllOlUC COJDlISSIOJII FOR AFRICA
FOOD SBCURITY AlII) StlS'.rAIDBLB DEVELOPI!IElII'.r DIVISIOJII
OP WATER RESOURCBS III AFRICA
Decei' er 1997
•
FSSDD/97/35 Dec. 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION
1. Background 2. Objective 3. Scope
PART I. GENERAL SITUATION
1. water resources assessment and aVailability 2. water uses and management
3. Problems and constraints
PART II. SUGGESTED OPTIONS FOR PROMOTING INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES
1. Institutional and legal infrastructures for planning and management
2. Appropriate technology
3. Private sector participation 4. Community participation
5. Partnership
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS REFERENCES
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
INTRODUCTION Background
Africa has over 50 significant water basins spanning nearly all the countries. For 14 of these, practically their entire national territories fall within shared river basins. There are also large inland water bodies such as lakes Victoria, Chad and the Kariba. Yet for most of the shared rivers, there are no
intergovernmental agreements for their management for mutual benefit. Only a few, such as Senegal, Gambia, Chad and Kagera have some kind of institutional agreements for consultation and cooperation on the management and sustainable development of their shared water resources. Niger has also an organization but is going through major difficulties. Nile, Zambezi and Zaire are working towards establishing cooperative mechanisms.
In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), international river basins constitute the principal source of water resources. About one- third of the world's international river basins are found in SSA.
Thirty five countries in the region share the 17 major river basins. Furthermore, international rivers also include 11 river basins between 30,000 and 100,000 sq. km. There are a number of important considerations associated with these international rivers that have implications for long-term management of water resources.
In Africa, it is estimated that there are only 18,800
precipitation stations, less than 10% of them with records over 30 years; about 1,250 evaporation stations; 5,200 hydrological stations measuring water discharge; and only about 2,000 ground- water observation stations and 900 water quality measurement stations. While the number of these stations might appear
adequate, their distribution is uneven and many of them do not operate satisfactorily and on a continuous basis. Furthermore, there are very few stations, if any, over arid and mountainous regions as well as over inaccessible hinterland areas. For a continent with an area of over 30 million sq. km., it is obvious that the extent and quality of present observational network for the assessment and sustainable development of water resources is grossly inadequate.
•
3
An analysis of the current situation reveals the absence of suitable maps, lack of hydrological data and undetermined local parameters for estimating run-off and groundwater. There is also lack of technological knowledge that makes it extremely difficult if not impossible to establish relationships between time series parameters and physiographic characteristics. Some of these
drawbacks result from the rapid increase of demands in the post- independence period accompanied by adverse economic conditions (i.e. international market share drop from 3% in 1960 to about 1%
in 1988, debt increase from $6 billion in 1979 to $130 billion in 1987, lack of industrial base, lack of resources, low food
production per capita, etc.).
water activities are often split among a number of ministries and departments at the national level. The
fragmentation of responsibilities among sectoral ministries and administrative agencies have hindered coordination and impeded the attempts to integrate water management activities within the sector itself and with other sector development programmes at the national level. To promote effective and efficient running of sector services for member countries, there is need for building capacity of institutions to put in place financially viable
systems, to design policy structures that allow for flexibility in responding to changing economic situations and to avoiding duplication of responsibility.
In many African countries, the role of national hydrological services changed as external consulting companies and experts carried out a large portion of the contracts in the water sector for donor agencies. As a consequence, the activities of local water resources engineers and hydrologists was reduced to collection and analysis of data with limited resources.
At present, there are many African geologists, water
resources engineers, soil and water engineers, natural resources managers who possess the required technological knowledge to assess water resources. Respective country governments should rely more on local teChnical expertise and less on long-term technical expatriate support. Moreover, governments need to
create a favourable climate in which it is possible for those who have the technological know-how to cooperate with local people as well as the private and public sectors.
Water-related conflicts involve not only competing water claims but also conflicts arising from the interactions between forest, land, and water. Lessons could be learned from indigenous institutions Which, at the subregional level (ethnic groupings) have the necessary mechanisms for conflict identification,
characterization, and resolution.
~Ob;ectives
The broad objectives of water management cover the
utilization and development of water resources in an efficient, environmentally sound, equitable and reasonable manner in order to satisfy society's demand for water, water-related goods and services, as well as to safeguard the ecological functions of water resources.
It is useful to recall here the proposed six programme areas for freshwater sector as adopted by the International Conference on Water and Environment held in Dublin, Ireland in January 1992
(a) Integrated water resources development and management:
The proposal advocated an approach considering water as an integral part of the ecosystem, a natural resource, a social and economic good, the quantity and quality of which determine its utilization. The overall objective of this approach is to satisfy the freshwater needs of countries for their sustainable
development.
(b) Water resources assessment:
The proposal emphasized the need for water resources
assessment, including the identification of potential sources of freshwater supply with a determination of sources, extent,
dependability and quality of water resources and of the human activities which affect these resources. In Africa, data
collection networks are satisfactory only in a few countries, and there was general lack of equipment, laboratories and other
components of the infrastructure while sediment and water quality data collection are largely ad-hoc in nature. Programmes for
collecting groundwater information are often inadequate. This situation calls for a more vigourous action to be taken in the African region.
(c) Protection of water resources, water quality and aquatic ecosystems:
Freshwater quality is impacted directly by natural and human activities outside the water sphere such as the rapid urban
population growth and industrialization. In order to slow down the rapid deterioration of water quality and enhance the
availability of safe water, it is recommended that all countries should have in place water pollution control programmes.
(d) Drinking water supply and sanitation:
Safe water supplies and environmental sanitation are vital for protecting the environment, improving health and alleviating poverty. The agreed promise is that all peoples, whatever their
5 stage of development and their social and economic conditions, have the right to have access to drinking water in quantities and quality equal to their basic needs.
(e) Water and sustainable urban development:
Early in the next century, more than half of the world's population will be living in urban areas. By the year 2025, that proportion will have risen to 60%, comprising some 5 billion people. This rapid urban population growth and industrialization will be putting severe strains on the water resources of many cities, and that special attention will be needed to curb the growing effects of urbanization on water demand and usage. Better management of urban water resources, including the elimination of unsustainable consumption patterns was considered to be making a substantial contribution to alleviation of poverty and
improvement of the health and quality of life of the urban poor.
(f) Water for sustainable food production and rural development:
It was recognized that sustainability of food production increasingly depends on sound and efficient water use and
conservation practices. While noting that achieving food security was a high priority in many countries, it was recommended that agriculture must not only provide food for rising populations, but should also save water for other uses. This recommendation saw the need that the rural population must also have better access to potable water supply and to sanitation services.
scope
Integrated planning of water resources seeks to include socio-economic, environmental and technical aspects into a
decision-making framework. This is how it can take into account all short-term needs and effects, ensure users' interests while maintaining ecosystem integrity and biological diversity, and find an appropriate balance between conflicting interests, on the national and transboundary level.
proposed activities in a catchment area that could adversely affect the conditions of aquatic ecosystems in terms of water quality and quantity, biological communities and the integrity of aquatic ecosystems, are already subject to an environmental
impact assessment (EIA) in some countries. Frequently, EIA is required for such water-related investments as hydropower
projects, dock constructions and large dredging activities. Other examples inclUde the establishment, removal or substantial
modification of a water body or its banks and the construction of dykes and dams; the expansion, construction or removal of a
federal waterway; and the construction and operation or the
substantial modification of waste-water facilities with a certain minimum capacity. Water abstraction is also subject to an EIA in
some countries, if the intake is on transboundary waters or water is abstracted in significant amounts from other aquifers and
surface waters. Non-water-management activities which may have an adverse impact on water resources are also subject to an EIA in some countries. These include, for example, the construction of oil and gas pipelines, opencast mining and sludge-storage areas.
Inter-basin transfer may be the answer for long-term solution to drought hazards in certain parts of Africa. The possibility of establishing links between basins should be
considered which would mean that large volume of water could be retained within Africa, especially in the interior basins which are currently drying up. Ground-water recharge could help in increasing irrigation potentials and thereby curb the impact of drought. Excellent benefits can be derived from regional
transfers involving a large number of countries. There will, of course, be need to solve problems of national, bilateral and multi-lateral policy issues, and to enhance coordination in the management of the inter-basin water transfer systems.
The entire subject of sustainable water and integrated water resources management needs much greater elaboration. There are indeed major policy decisions needed to be undertaken to bring these concepts to reality. Integrated water resources management involves a multi-sectoral approach taking into account not only water resources but also economic and social sectors of
economies. Alternative uses of water have direct consequences upon a multitude of sectors, and integrated water resources management involves determining the relationships between the sectors.
The very concept of integrated water resources management implies a significant contribution in terms of capital and human resources and the development of a model to quantify results.
The successful application of integrated water resources
management necessitates accessibility to an extensive data base and the development of a macro-economic model. The model should present planners with an array of outputs based upon different scenarios. In order to demonstrate inputs and complexity of such a task, it is suggested that a pilot project be undertaken which could serve as a guideline to methodology and application of integrated water resources management. What is important is the development of the methodology, which then could be applied throughout the region.
Four main principles need to be applied in taking action to achieve integrated water resources development and management.
(al Freshwater is a finite and vulnerable resource essential to sustain life, development and the environment:
7 Its sustainable management demands a holistic approach,
linking social and economic development with protection of natural ecosystems. To realize effective management i t is
recommended that close links should be maintained between land and water uses across the whole of a river basin or a groundwater aquifer.
(b) Participatory approach:
Water development and management should be based on a participatory approach involving users, planners and policy- makers at all levels. This involves raising awareness of the
importance of water among policy-makers and the general public.
It means that decisions are taken at the lowest appropriate
level, with full public consultation and involvement of users in the planning and implementation of water projects.
(c) Role of women:
Women playa central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water. This pivotal role of women as water users and guardians of the living environment has seldom been reflected
in institutional arrangements for the development and management of water resources. Thus positive policies to equip and empower women to participate at all levels in water resources programmes
is required.
(d) Water has an economic value:
It is vital to recognize first the basic rights of all human beings to have access to clean water and sanitation at an
affordable price. Past failure to recognize the economic value of water has led to wasteful and environmentally damaging uses of resources. Managing water as an economic good is an important way of achieving efficient and equitable use, and of encouraging
conservation and protection of water resources. While many actions are local or provincial in nature, their impact on the environment is global. Accordingly national leadership, supported by international cooperation in capacity building, training and technology transfer is important.
PART I. GENERAL SITUATION
1. Water resouroes assessment and availability
Water resources assessment including the identification of potential sources of fresh water is of primary importance. The determination of water sources, their extent, dependability and quality as well as the impact of human activity on available water is crucial.
Each year the hydrologic cycle deposits about 113,000 cubic kilometres of water on the world's continents and islands as rain and snow. 72,000 cubic kilometres evaporates back into the atmosphere. Out of the remaining/balance of 41,000 cubic kilometres, more than half flows to the seas and oceans and as much as 1/8th falls in areas too far from human habitation to be captured for use. In fact, according to estimates by some water experts; of the world's available renewable fresh water only 9,000 to 14,000 cubic kilometres are annually available for use; of which Africa's share is minimal compared to other regions.
In Africa, distribution of water is characterized by complex patterns and striking paradoxes which exhibit an abundance of rainfall over the equatorial zone contrasted by extensive and extreme aridity of the Sahara desert in the north and the Kalahari desert in the south. In between these extremes of humidity and aridity are the semi-arid zones where rainfall shows wide fluctuation from year to year and even within seasons in the year.
These areas cover about 57 per cent of the land surface area', and the soils can hold moisture to support growth up to 180 days.
About 50 per cent of the total surface water resources of the continent are in one single river basin, namely the Congo basin, and 75 per cent of the total water resources are concentrated in eight major river basins, the Congo, the Niger, the Ogoague (Gabon), the Zambezi,the Nile, the Sanga, the Chari-Logone and the volta.
In Africa, only a minimal amount can currently be used as a viable fresh water. Besides, several rivers and lakes have undergone marked reduction in flow rates and surface area.
Groundwater wells are also constantly threatened by desertification and their consequent depletion has accelerated the migration of pastoralists into marginal lands. The encroachment of people into forest regions and the indiscriminate clearing of forests has led to soil erosion resulting in the deterioration of water quality and reduction of the storage capacity of reservoirs and their life span.
In general, in the last 20 years, available fresh water resources in Africa has greatly diminished due to frequency of severe and prolonged droughts. Pollution of water from industrial effluent, urban runoff, sewerage and agro-chemicals which are on the increase continue to deteriorate freshwater quality and affect
its quantity.
The sharp decline in availability of fresh water supply due to hydrologic, climatic and environmental changes is visible even in the Congo-Zaire basin. Meantime, the stress on demand has increased with population growth, urbanization, industrialization, irrigation requirements, fisheries and livestock development.
Consequently, there are chronic as well as seasonal acute water
r
9 shortages in most African countries and the situation becomes critical as the demand keeps on increasing and the supply continues to diminish. This has serious implication on economic development and food security situation in several subregions of the continent.
In Africa, the meteorological and hydrological services which are responsible for basic network infrastructures for assessment activities have suffered serious deterioration. Besides the coverage, operation and maintenance of these networks is inadequate and they have been allowed to run down since governments could not maintain the systems that were put in place through their own efforts and through the assistance from UNDP, the World Bank, UNESCO and WMO. The December 1993 report of the Working Group on Hydrology of the WMO Regional Association for Africa state that the situation of networks of hydrological stations in 48 countries of the region were inadequate to satisfy even minimum needs and only a few countries now have services which can be compared to those existing 10 to 20 years ago. The report also noted that most countries do not have a service level that can be used as a basis for sustaining the water development projects which are anticipated in the coming years. Water quality and sediment transport have particularly been largely neglected in the process of water resources assessment.
Data on total water availability in different African countries is extremely scarce and therefore, does not allow comparison throughout the continent. Since most African countries have poor hydrological networks, only a handful have been able to make large scale resource assessment as a basis for national water master plans and development plans in general. The rest are applying traditional methods for water balance estimates based on generalised hydrological information from existing observation networks. Such estimates have limited precision and can only be used to function as first indicators for overall water availabil ity.
Rainfall Distribution and Patterns
The primary source of fresh water is precipitation. A considerable variation in the distribution of rainfall in many parts of the world, contributes to creating conditions of acute water scarcity in many regions. For example countries like Canada and New Zealand have a daily run-off of about 300 m3 per person/day while countries in Africa like Kenya and South Africa have only 1.8 and 4.00 m3 per person/day respectively to satisfy their domestic, industrial and agricultural needs.
In Africa the areas with abundant rainfall (except for the Congo Basin and the volcanic peaks) generally consist of crystalline rocks characterized by low infiltration and low groundwater storage capacity. The total annual rainfall in the
--continent is estimated at about 20,000 billion m3 of which only 2,500 billion m3 consists average annual river flow.
Distribution of rainfall shows great temporal and spatial variability in the region as a whole. The extreme north of the continent, i.e. the Maghreb and certain coastal parts of Libya and Egypt and the extreme south of the Cape region have rainfall of the Mediterranean type (winter rains). The very wet equatorial regions to the south of 10° latitude N, have two rainy seasons generall~
from March to June and from September to November. From the 10' to the 15th parallel N, the tropical regions have only one rainy season i. e. , from May to October while the subtropical desert region i.e., the whole of the north with the exception of the Mediterranean zone, receives only occasional and irregular showers.
The annual rainfall is two to six metres along the West African coast, from Conakry to Abidjan continuing to the Niger del ta and Libreville in Gabon. One to two meters in some mountainous regions of the Maghreb and south of the line from Banjul to Mogadishu; 500 to 1000 mID in the high Atlas and coastal regions of Algeria and Tunisia and in a strip 300 to 500 km wide to the North of the line mentioned above, and less than one metre to the North of the line from Nouakchott to Port Sudan. with the exception of Maghreb, the majority of this region receives less than 20mID. South of the equator, similar trend occurs. Central Africa receives 2000-3000 mID, which decreases to 800-1000 mID in Angola, and drops off to barely 100-200 mID in the Kalahari region.
The isolated Cape zone, just like the Tunisian coast, receives about 1000-1500 mID.
The coefficient of evaporation in Africa is the highest in the world. Run-off factor is only half that of the world average. In zones with rainfall under 250 mID, the amount of infiltration is closely related to rainfall intensities. In areas with rainfall between 250-1000 mID, the potential evapotranspiration is over 75%
and is a deciding factor on the state of water availability. In areas with rainfall exceeding 1000 mID, a substantial part of the rainfall goes towards infiltration into the ground.
Surface Water
Rivers are the main sources of fresh water. Forty per cent of the world's population depend on fresh water from rivers and about two-thirds of this population live in developing countries. As this population increases relative to available water resources, the maximum per capita demand that a country can support, decreases correspondingly.
Worldwide there are fifty two major international rivers with catchment areas exceeding 100,000 sq. km. of which seventeen are in sub-Saharan Africa. These rivers derive their run-off mainly from highland areas that form the upper catchment. Once they leave the
11 - - hills, little inflow is contributed from tributaries other than those that are generated in the highland areas. An exception to this generalisation is the region in and around the Zaire basin where heavier and less seasonal rainfall creates and ensures a pattern of perennial watercourses. Several of these rivers and lakes in Africa are undergoing a marked reduction in flow rates with Lake Chad facing the most serious problem. In less than one hundred years, the lake has been reduced to only 10 per cent of its original water surface (LCBe master plan 1992).
Ground-water
Present knowledge of the availability of groundwater is not adequate to permit a quantitative appraisal of the resource.
However, i t is known that groundwater exists in almost all parts of Africa. It constitutes about 20% of the total water resources of the continent. Groundwater provides limited supplies for drinking and for small-scale irrigation. In some countries i t is the main source of supply.
Most groundwater occurs in non-sedimentary precambrian crystalline rock formations whose water holding capacity is not good, except where there are fissures, joints, faults and weathering. Along the coasts in west, central and eastern Africa, groundwater occurs in sedimentary formations. These formations have better yields but are affected in some cases by intrusion of saline water.
Groundwater exploration and exploitation in Africa has since the 1950s been undertaken on an increasing scale. With the advancement of technology for its investigation and better identification of the aquifer systems there has been growing exploitation of the resource. Information systems in the form of hydrogeological maps, reports, etc. are presently available in many countries of the continent. Groundwater has become a prominent feature of mining industries.
For many large cities, rural communities and various industrial establishments i t has become an important source of supply. The Great Man-Made river of Libya is an example of a giant project transferring fossil water from the heart of the Sahara to the northern part of the country to be used for various socio- economic development programmes.
2. water uses and management
Water is the most important ingredient which finds its application in all socio-economic development activities and in maintaining ecological balance. It has a central role in meeting , the requirements for the attainment of food security and in the activities for the protection and conservation of the environment.
The importance and linkage water has with human activities and the overall nexus issues of food security, environment and population
particularly in the context of the current situation in Africa makes integrated management of water resources an issue that should be accorded utmost priority. Chapter 18 of Agenda 21 provides a comprehensive programme of Action which envisages the areas where environment and development intersect. It outlines the basis for action, objectives, activities and the means of implementation, including estimates of required financial outlays.
The maj or water-consumptive uses in Africa are for agriculture and human settlements. Industry is a sector where there is increasing use of water which affects its quality. Requirements for other sectors like hydropower generation, fisheries, recreation and navigation while representing a significant part of the water resources have a very low consumption rate. Therefore, the analysis of water withdrawal in subsequent paragraphs focuses mainly on agriculture and human settlements.
Despite the overall picture that water is an abundant resource in Africa, there is a distinct disparity in its availability between regions and between various parts of countries. It is predicted that by the year 2025 several African countries will experience water scarcity. As it stands now, 11 countries are water stressed (i.e. 2000 ~3 or less per person per year) and 15 countries suffer water scarcity (i.e. 1000 m3 or less per person per year) conditions, as shown in figure 1.
In the last few decades, the water issue has been marginalized in the development plans of ~ost African countries. At the same time, rapid population growth, expansion of irrigation areas and industrialization have put pressure on the available water resources. On the other hand, climate change and environmental degradation have resulted in induced impact and have directly affected the quality and quantity of water resources.
COUNTRIES PROJECTED TO_ EXPERIENCE -WATER STRESS OR WATER SCARCITY BY 2025
WATER SCARCITY
WATEJI. STRESS
The bOIi1'Jd4rJes Itrul umn slu".",. OJl thil map til) .ot implY official mUN.Mm. Dr
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water and agriculture It is recognized production in Africa resources management.
that there is a
through improved need to increase food irrigation and water Globally, the per capita utilization of water resources varies widely between continents, from 1,692m3 per year in North America to only 244 m3 per year in Africa. (Report of the Secretary-General A/5l/43, 3 September 1996). This figure shows that there is a relatively gross under utilization of water resources in Africa.
Worldwide, almost 70 per cent of water consumption goes to agriculture (FAO water Report, 1995). The 1996 Secretary-General's Report notes that globally, the share of agriculture is constantly declining due to rising demands from other sectors. It also notes that the pattern of water use reflects the process of economic development i.e as wealth increases, water withdrawal shifts from agriculture to industry and the household sector. Table 1 provides the water withdrawal in Africa for agriculture, communities and industries
"Region" refers to the part of countries are grouped on basis homogeneity.
the African continent where of geographic and climatic As shown in table 1, in Africa fresh water resources is primarily drawn for agriculture purposes which represents 85 per cent of the total withdrawal, and this figure varies considerable between the various parts of the African continent. From experience almost all the agricultural water use is for irrigation.
In arid areas, where irrigation plays an important role in agriculture, total water withdrawal is the highest. Accordingly.
the Northern region accounts for more than half of the agricultural withdrawal of the continent. The humid regions of the Gulf of Guinea and the central region have 62 per cent and 43 per cent agricultural withdrawals respectively. Water withdrawal for domestic use Le. total water withdrawn by public distribution networks which also includes withdrawal for industries connected to public networks accounts for 9 per cent followed by industry per say (i.e. self supplied industries) which represents 6 per cent of water withdrawal in the region. In terms of hydropower, Africa possesses one-third of the world's potential while the installed capacity stands at less than 10 per cent of its potential. It is estimated to be about 300,000 MW in Sub-Saharan Africa excluding the Republic of South Africa. The limited number of the existing power stations in Africa are facing major problems arising from soil erosion which shorten the life span of reservoirs and reduce the water volume and the efficiency.
Table 1: Regional dlstrbuticn of water withdrawals
-
Wi thdrawals
by sector --- ---
Region Agr i cut ture Coommities Industries Total As % of AS % of
totat internal
resources
xl£f m3/yr xl06 m3/yr xl06 m3/yr xl06 m3tyr % %
-.~
Northern 65 000 5 500 5800 76300 SO.9 152.6
(85%) (7%) (8%) ( 100%)
-
sudano- 22600 1 200 300 24 100 16.1 14.2
Sahel ina (94%) (5%) (1%) (100%)
- ._-- - -
Gulf of Guinea 3 800 1 600 700 6 100 4.1 0.6
(62%) <26%) (12%) (IOOX)
-
Central 600 600 200 1 400 0.9 O. I
(43%) (43%) (14%) (100%)
Eastern 5 400 900 200 6500 4.3 2.5
(83%) (14%) (3%) (l00%) !
Islards (1.0) 16400 200 20 16 620 11.1 4.9
(99%) (IX) (. ) (100%)
--- --- ---- ---.-
Southern 14 100 3000 1 800 18 900 12.6 6.9
<75%) (16%) (9%) ( 100%)
Total 127 900 13 000 9 020 149 920 100.0 3.8
(85%) - - i'/%) (6%) -_ ... _ . -( 100%) _._ .... -
Source: fAD Irrigation in Africa in figures, extract from Vater Report 7. Rome 1995
The regions are:
Northern: Algeria, Egypt, libya, MoroccO', Tunisia
SUdano~S8helian: Burkina Feso, Cape Verdet Chad, Djibouti. Eritrea, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania. Niger. Senegat. Somalia, Sudan Gulf of Guinea: Benin, Cote d'(voire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo
Central: Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republict Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, S'o Tome and Principle, Zaire Eastern: Burundi. Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda
Indian OCean Islands Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles
Southenn: Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namlbia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe._
In the context of African large-scale irrigation, inter-basin water transfer and high-technology desert-irrigation do not appear to be viable options to solve the problem of famine and food-aid dependence because of the relatively high-cost involved that is beyond the means of most governments. The record of large-scale modern irrigation has not been good in sub-Saharan Africa, not only because of capital cost which is more than double those in other continents but because of numerous factors such as weaknesses in planning and management and maintenance constraints that have not allowed irrigation schemes to fulfil their desired objectives. It is often argued that small-scale irrigation development aimed at the bulk of food producers, including pastoralist will have the greatest impact that would lead to long-term benefits.
One of the fundamental problems of African development is its weakness in producing enough food and in meeting the objective of establishing food-security. Poor access to markets and unreliable rainfall partly account for the problem. About one-third of the continent is known to be too dry for any rained crop production, however 93.5% of the cultivated area is under rain-fed conditions.
The annual fluctuation in the output of African food and agricultural production can largely be attributed to the variability in the rainfall regime. This is amply demonstrated in the years following the drought in the mid-80s. In 1985 for example, there was a marked regional recovery of about 10% in food production (Table 2). This was followed by a further increase in 1986. From Table 2, i t is seen that although both the AgricultUral production and food production indices increased in absolute terms by more than 30% , the corresponding per capita indices did not change significantly over the decade. As stated before after the recovery in 1986 of per capita food (Agricultural) production due to good rains after the drought years up to 1985, there was a steady decline on per capita basis of both indices back to the levels of 1983 by the year 1993.
Another indicator of this trend also shown in table :2 is reflected in the Agricultural Trade figures. Of particular importance is the Trade Gap which is the net of Agricultural Imports over the exports. This gap decreased by nearly 75% during the good rainy years of 1986/87 and gradually climbed back to a peak of more than US$7 billion by 1992 which showed the onset of another drought in most drought prone parts of Africa. A general correlation is indicated between good rainfall year(s) and an increase in Africa's Agricultural exports and a simultaneous inverse relation with Agricultural Imports which logically leads to the reduction in the Trade Gap.
Food production in Africa has been declining steadily for the past two and half decades and dependence on food imports has consequently been growing. This situation prevailed in 1987, 1988 and 1989 since the return of wetter years after 1985. Going back to 1975/79 we can see that Africa produced 83 per cent of her
TABLB 2: PRODUCTJ:01l J:1IDJ:CES (UIUCA)
- - - - - - -- -
1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993
Agr;culturel • 101.42 102.34 110.95 115.88 115.44 122.4 126.47 127.88 133.78 130.72 134.97 Products
@ 92.97 91.12 95.96 97.31 94.13 96.9 97.21 95.43 96.93 91.96 92.2
Food • 101.49 102.36 111.10 116.32 115.95 123.43 127.4 128.96 135.25 132.39 136.67
Products
m 93.04 91. 14 96.09 97.68 94.55 97.72 97.93 96.24 96 93.14 93.36
("""rt. ust> 1m 15142 15754 15025 13752 13016 14693 16313 16007 14975 1m 169~
Exports usa ... 10368 11467 10618 12556 12011 11763 12386 12190 11218 10713 10774
Trade gap USD "'" 4774 4287 4207 1196 1005 2930 3927 3617 3757 7060 5419
- --
SOURCE: State of Food and Agriculture, 1994, Rome, Italy
* Production index
N Per capita production index
cereal requirements and imported 8 million tons. It is, however, estimated that by the year 2000 the net import will have risen to 49 million tons and Africa will only be producing 56 per cent of the cereal she needs. At the same time food imports as well as food-aid keep on growing resulting in unhealthy dependence on them for these basic items of food. The contribution of irrigation to cereal production is significant since 53 per cent of the land area under irrigation in Africa is devoted to cereal production viz.
rice, wheat, maize, barely, millet and sorghum. The regional distribution of land under irrigated farming in Africa, remains low. Since the drought this figure has been about 14.2 million hectares, with most of this area in Egypt, Sudan and Morocco. A large portion of the irrigated area is classified as modern and small part constitutes traditional small-scale projects.
For developing countries of Africa, a major portion of the needed increase in food production is expected to come from existing irrigated and rainfed lands through increasing yield per unit area and yield per unit of water consumed. FAD's International Action Programme on water and sustainable Agricul tural Development puts emphasis on increasing water use efficiency through modernization and improvement of existing irrigation schemes and rehabilitation of waterlogged and salinised irrigated lands. It recommends the promotion of small-scale water programmes for purpose of expanding supplementary irrigation, and water harvesting and soil moisture conservation are recommended to increase the available water for rainfed arable lands. It is also suggested to continue expansion of irrigation at a rate that can be justified in terms of meeting the goals of food security, increased farm income, improved rural development and conservation of the natural resource base. FAD suggests that the scale of new irrigation development should be appropriate to it being sustainable with focus on medium - and small-scale developments while large-scale developments must be considered as components of multi-purpose projects. All developments are to be subject to the stipulation of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) at the planning stage before being pursued. Community involvement, particularly of women is considered a necessary condition during all phases of development.
It is obvious that food shortage is a major crisis and the region remains a net importer of cereals, which is one of the major food items. It is also recognized that to save the situation a wide range of policy measures will have to be adopted in the areas of production inputs, price incentives, credit facilities, assured markets, transportation and extension services including the control of water to make it available for irrigation in the dry season. A major policy recommendation is required to institute better utilization and improvement in management of water resources and the establishment of low-cost irrigation schemes. The
19 development of national capacity and capabilities with a view to enhance the quality of management will be very crucial.
In terms of population, Africa represents 12.2 per cent of the world population with the highest growth rate of 3.01 per cent of the world (see Fig 2 & 3). Whereas its share of total fresh water stands at 10.2 per cent, its per capita withdrawal is the lowest (proceedings of the International Conference on water and Environment, Dublin, Ireland, January 1992).
In the drinking water supply and sanitation sector, the Decade (1981-1990) had seen some progress made to providing more of the African population with safe drinking water and sanitation facilities. Notwithstanding some major efforts made by African governments three quarters of the rural population still remain with no access to clean and reliable water sources and less than 20 per cent have sanitary disposal facility. The general situation depicts that there has been a widening gap of the unserved population with water supply in addition to a worse situation in sanitation. This trend is an indication that the majority of the population of Africa are being exposed to a high risk of incidence of debilitating and incapacitating diseases which in turn have serious consequences on the economic development of the region. It is realised that 80% of all endemic diseases in Africa are water- borne and water-related .
One of the reasons why water resources development in Africa did not progress well is essentially attributed to the low priority accorded to the sector. In addition, even where water development activities were being undertaken, a comprehensive multi-purpose integrated development approach was not adopted. Consequently, disjointed planning which did not take into account complementary activities has given cause to past failures. Emphasis was often given to hydropower development at the expense of other water development sectors. In fact, the 1988 interregional meeting on river and lake basin development notes that river basin planning has invariably been the prerogative of most energy and irrigation agencies and as such did not encompass other aspects of economic and social dimensions to realize sustainablity. Africa's future development orientation should be based on integrated and multi- purpose strategy. This puts the adoption of a comprehensive approach with a balance mix of policy measures including water management, as well as legal and institutional frameworks to serve the sectoral and national development objectives.
Water and human settlements
Providing water supply in human settlements involves tapping the most suitable source of water, ensuring that the water is fit for domestic consumption and supplying it in adequate quantities.
Quality standards for water supply are principally concerned with
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~i~.2. aST~8UTION OF THE WORlds Pl.f'ULATION
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DISTRIBUTION OF THE WORLD's FRESH WATER
21
ensuring that water does not contain any matter, either chemical or biological, which could affect its safety or acceptability.
All water sources should be assessed, so that the most suitable and acceptable source can be selected. Different sources of water require different degrees of treatment which have marked bearing on the cost of installation. Source protection and
improvement are permanent methods of ensuring water quality.
Urbanization heightens the relationship between available water quantity and water quality. Cities are faced with mounting cost of water shortages, water treatment, well deepening and development of new sources. Particularly cities in Africa, face a dilemma: they do not only have limited means with which to expand the supply of water and maintain its quality but they also need to expand water supply services to meet the ever increasing needs of industry and to support growing population. The result is that local water resources are threatened and, the urban poor are deprived of access to the minimum quantities of safe water.
consequently there is an alarming widening of the gap between water demand and supply and between consumption and potentially available safe water resources in many urban areas of African countries.
While water management policies are essential for economic development and human settlements, policies are not sufficient by themselves: African countries' managers must be provided with the tools and capacities with which to make the policies work. This will require the development of appropriate planning, implementing and management tools as well as the introduction of mechanisms to generate and manage increased revenue for water resource development activities and the availability of professionals who can address such critical areas as integrated water resource planning and management and operation and maintenance of water related infrastructures and services. These will be some areas where African countries should focus on in the next decade.
Sound management of water resources will need to embody the concept of equity and give priority to the satisfaction of basic needs. It is imperative that existing facilities be utilized and maintained to the optimum, so that water losses are minimized and available supply capacities are fully used. There is need to give emphasis to water demand management, through techniques such as water saving, plumbing fixtures, flow control devices, educational programmes and progressive tariffs based on the marginal cost of water. Water resource management must redress the disproportions in investment for water supply and waste water removal infrastructure. In this context, there is considerable scope for reusing waste waters for a variety of purposes, to the potential benefit of sustainable development practices, subject to social/cultural acceptability of the process.
Resource mobilization
Four potential sources of funds exist for water supply development programme. These are government budget, international assistance, institutional funding within the country and the communities themselves. The obvious source of funds would be a revolving fund, sustained exclusively by the contributions of beneficiary communities at a level adequate to ensure reapplication of investments for expanding coverage and for operating and maintaining existing facilities.
Institutional lenders within a country, as a source of sector funds, have been largely untapped so far, because most of these institutions are relatively undeveloped but also because of their weak institutional frameworks and cost-recovery procedures, which are not creditworthy. It is, therefore, not surprising that most water supply development activities in Africa are funded from government budgets and foreign loans, both of which are determined by the government on the basis of national priorities. There is need to improve the financial self-sufficiency of the water agencies, through recovery of revenues from user communities. In this connection, the Tunisian national water company, with responsibility for urban water supply throughout the country, has steadily increased both the levels of its annual investment and the share of its annual cost internally financed from cash generation, customer contributions and borrowing.
Municipal funds, raised through municipal taxes assessed on the size or value of the property being served, are the usual source of funds for drainage and solid-waste- disposal investments.
The urban squatter settlements community, because of their illegitimate status, pay no municipal taxes, and this has often been used as the principal argument against providing these communities with municipal services. It, therefore, follows that the issuance of land title deeds or, at least , a declared intention to provide titles, is necessary before municipal revenues may be derived from these communities. It is often assumed that squatter communities are unwilling to pay for urban services, however, these communities often consider that payment of municipal taxes and service charges is a positive means of obtaining governmental recognition of the existence of their illegitimate plots.
cost recovery
Inadequacies in the level and structure of tariffs in many African countries have been responsible for a disappointing record:
the wide spectrum of consumers served provides opportunities for cross- subsidization within a satisfactory structure and overall level of tariffs, but the maintenance of financial autonomy also necessitates appropriate tariff revision from time to time.
23
Inadequate cost recovery procedures have, sometime, hampered the ability of water supply agencies to become self-financing. The evidence is that coverage has lagged further behind the need in cases where water supply has had to depend on governmental subsidies, either because the consequent loss of financial discipline has encouraged inefficiency or because the subsidies have been cut in the face of governmental budget constraints. The establishment of an adequate tariff structure and of effective mechanisms for assessing and collecting charges are a prerequisite to reversing the trend.
Although there exist cases where the entire capital cost of a water supply is met by a single down payment, it is most common to reduce the burden on the community by charging a monthly tariff to cover debt servicing, operating and maintenance expenses. water tariffs should ideally be established on an incremental basis, where the initial quantity of water to be consumed for basic needs is charged at a nominal rate, but the rate increases with the overall quantity consumed. Consumption of water closely follows income levels, and, unless progressive rates are charged, the share of income devoted to water declines as income rises. Progressive rates also act as a conservation measure and give the opportunity to cross-subsidize low-income communities with revenues from wealthy communities and industry.
In addition to regular tariffs for the amount of water consumed, a connection charge is often levied, but this connection charge is frequently set at a level unaffordable to low-income communi ties, which in turn discourages their connections. Loan financing of the cost of connection as an extension of the capital cost of the system safeguarded by the application of a charge based on the value of the property served, is an effective means of encouraging low-income communities to benefit from essential services, while levying appropriate charges on high-income properties.
Urban residents who receive water from communal standpipes or from courtyard connections that serve a number of households do not generally pay charges related to use, because of the administrative difficul ties of charging. Although some countries settled the matter through charges for each bucket filled, it is usual to rely on property taxes or general municipal revenues, rather than direct charges. The use of standpipes often leads to water wastage, and some form of initial evaluation is necessary to assess the potential economy in providing standpipes as . opposed to private connections.
water and ecosystem functions
Worldwide efforts to increase available water supplies have resulted in both the benefits and impacts to the environment and the society. They have involved major trade-offs between loss of
water to meet basic human needs
water resources for development
capacl[Y utiliZation of eXisting water facliities
limitations affecting progress in water-supply coverage and demana satisfaction
systems appropnate to local conditions
water scarcity
capacllY and manage water resources
environmental impacts of water development
water sources and domestic water-storage containers
awareness 0 the relationship between water pollution and Its utility, and of the benefits of water conservation and source protection
ana minimization of wastage
I II
and ability to pay
Conduct discussions aimed at providing services peOPle are Willing and able to oay
I ana community involvement in system plannlnCl and
;mplementation
intro(Juction aftechniQues to conserve water througn approonate plumbm~
fixtures, ftow~control
deVices, public education, etc.
ensure sufficient quantities of safe waler are avaiiable to all Community involvement in
I I
unlty-basea approaches to drainage-basin
management, especially
mjcrc~level management in the vicinity of tne community Development of financial instruments based on the environmental proolems aSSocIated with water- resource development for use
management water facjli~ies, wners public maintenance is poor or non", existent
revenue-generation mechanisms
Local capacity-building to cOilect and admInister funds
capaCIty to operate and maintain
proposea systems, should this service not be prOVided cy
ublie authonties Re-use of wastewater for purposes not dependent on water quality
I adVice and ~ra:mng to communities to manage and maintain water- infrastructure faCilities
action
drainage-basin management community participation In new water-development
authorities as enablers and facilitators, and as partners with NGOs and pnvate organiZations, to extend services to unserved and underserved communities
sources througn institutional and legislative means Application of tne pnnciple of 'pollu r i pays'
programmes to operate and maintain eXisting facilil 's Leak detection and contrOl
programmes
Asset upkeep. upgrading ana
water at true resource Vi je and marginal cost of development
use of tecnno!ogu:s which are
appropriate in the local circumstan !s, in terms of cost social acceptaouit and potentlallO be propeny
maintaIned !
Recycling and re-use of waste wat!
for agriculture and industry and for enhancing the human settlements
-
environment
i
through appropnate training programmes and provision of up-t(
date management tools
enVlronmentat impacts and corresponding mitigating action
Source: UNCHS (Habitat). People, Settlements. EnVironment and Development. 1990.
