Water lot of opportunities!

This blog has given me the chance to explore how environmental change is affecting water and development across Africa. Predictions for environmental changes expect Africa’s hydrology to take a pretty big hit over the next few decades. This will add yet another obstacle to Africa’s continuous struggle to achieve the development it desires.

It’s easy to paint a negative picture of the situation:

Already, water supplies are declining near mountainous regions due to loss of the forest cover that intercepts cloud moisture, and glaciers are expected to disappear completely. The use of hydroelectric power – currently driving many SSA countries and their economies – is under threat due to falling river levels. Agricultural yields in SSA are diminishing due to ever-increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, particularly for small-scale farmers. In urban areas, more frequent and intense floods are damaging the already inadequate sanitation systems and polluting drinking-water infrastructure, advancing the spread of disease and further decreasing living standards for slum dwellers. Conflicts over water supplies are expected to increase on both a transboundary and regional scale.

But as the saying goes, ‘while the challenges are great, so are the opportunities’. This is where human intervention comes into play. Such interventions will be required on all scales – within local communities, regional governments, national governments, and across international bodies.

Governments can invest in reforestation programmes. Energy generation can be diversified. Water management can be more efficient. Urban sanitation infrastructure can be developed. Negotiations and agreements can be instituted to avoid water wars.

Farming methods can be completely transformed: the use of farming inputs can increase crop yields, more resilient crops can be introduced, and new water harvesting techniques can be implemented. And this year’s COP22 is just one example of how effective international cooperation can be by focusing discussions on Africa’s agriculture and water issues.

As I have highlighted previously, good governance and political stability is essential to achieve any of these ambitions. Many of these solutions also require access to capital, but this can be acquired through funding from NGOs, social enterprises, and payments from developed nations who owe heavy reparations for the climate change they have created.

I am confident that with the appropriate adaptations and international support, rather than us facing climate changes in Africa with trepidation, we will be watching Africa’s bright future unfold.