Key water issues in Africa: need to strengthen water
Security in Africa
Abou Amani
Regional hydrologist for Africa
Nairobi Regional Office

Joint Asia-Africa Water Cycle Symposium, 25-27 November 2013, Tokyo,Japan

Water Security“The capacity of a population to safeguardsustainable access to adequate quantities ofand acceptable quality water for sustaining
livelihoods, human well-being, and socioeconomic development, for ensuring
protection against water-borne pollution andwater-related disasters, and for preserving
ecosystems in a climate of peace and politicalstability.”

Outline• Why water security is crucial for Africa?

• Why and How IWRM could contribute toachieve Water Security in Africa?

• Way forward on Africa Water Cycle Initiative

Why water security is crucial forAfrica?

Water a vital resource for Africa“water is and must remain a key tosustainable development in Africa, andthat water supply and sanitation areprerequisites for Africa’s human capitaldevelopment”.
Sharm El-Shiekh Declaration, 11th African
Union Summit (2008)NINE
WATER
CHALLENGES

Access to safe drinking water

35% do not have access to safe drinking water

Water for heath• Less than 40% of Sanitation coverage inmany African countries• More than 80% of diseases are water related
and borne diseases (Malaria, cholera, Guinea
Worm,..)• These diseases are mainly responsible fornumber of deaths for children under fiveWater for Food

Agriculture
Livestock

Majority of the population has
agriculture as main activities
Agriculture is generally rainfed
Many African countries continue
to struggle with food insecurity
Fishery15

Water related disasters in Africa(floods, droughts)

Mozambique (Février et mars 2000) : Inondations provoquées par le passage des tempêtes tropicales
Elyne et Gloria : 1 milliard de $ US de pertes

Niamey, août 2000

 Collapse of hydraulic infrastructures (under calculated) Human and environmental threats Increase of water erosion and siltation in reservoirs

21

Lake Chad shrinking

Global Time Series of Future Drought
Soil Moisture

Drought extent

SRES B1 =Low Greenhouse
Gas Emissions(we do something
about climate change)
SRES A1B =High Emissions

Short term drought
SRES A2 =Very High Emissions(we do little)

Long term drought

Drought Severity

Global average time series of soil moisture and various
drought statistics for the 20th (20C3M) and 21st centuries
for the SRESB1, SRESA1B and SRESA2 scenarios.

Transboundary water resources
and need for more cooperation
among countries in Africa

Over 80 transboundary
river/lake basins

n
Bu inC
ap rkinae
VC
erot
deed'IvoG ire
ambiaGhan
G G aui ui
ne nea- abissau
Li
ber iaM Maau l iritania
NigeN riger
Se i aSe nerra galLeoneTogoBeWater Dependency Index, UNWWDR2, AQUASAT, FAO, 2005

120100806040200Around 41 transboundaryaquifers identified so far

There is a great lack ofscientific knowledge on TBA inAfrica

After IHP work,around 60 TBA havebeen identified inAfrica

AFRICAN WATER VISION 2025

Equitable and sustainable use and managementof water resources for poverty alleviation,socio-economic development, regional cooperation, and the environment

50 billions USD/year needed including
investment on water related infrastructures
30

Why and How IWRM could
contribute to achieve WaterSecurity in Africa?

Need for Integrated Approaches:
IWRM• Population growth– More water needed to satisfy the growing needs (domestic, industry,agriculture,..economic growth)– More competition on the uses with more pollution– More impacts of water related hazards (floods, droughts)• Shared nature of water resources- Need to anticipate potential conflicts among users and countries• Climate change– exacerbating hydro-disasters (floods and droughts)– Water availability become more variable in space and time

Need to speed adoption of integrated approach forsustainability supported with sound knowledge andappropriate capacity

Progress of IWRM
•Ideal Goals(Added Value)

Mature StageDevelopingStage

From ‘Scratch’Stage•Framework forstakeholders’participation•Environmental
conservation•Water use•Flood control•Hydropower

IWRM ProcessIrrigation
Practitioners
Domestic Water
Suppliers

FloodManagers

Industrial Water
Suppliers

Overall
Coordinators

Hydropower
Practitioners
Sewerage (Sanitation) /Drainage Practitioners

EnvironmentalManagers

Other Sectors?

We cannot manage
something we don’tknow

Major Needs• More data (quantity and quality)• More research for policy advice• Improvement for water
management and needs for tools• Capacity building

Information, Knowledge and Monitoring
The value of information and knowledge is only realized when
it is put to use. Good information  decision making andbetter choice and design: Insufficient resources are invested in supply anddissemination of water information in Africa and not enoughinformation is produced
 Information that does exist is poorly disseminated andinaccessible and connection between knowledge andoperation are weakMore Research• Improvement of knowledge on climate and its impacts onwater resources (Ex: Programme AMMA), Climate change
models are not still doing well in Africa• Improvement of knowledge on hydrological extremes• Improvement of knowledge on transboundary water
systems particularly groundwater

More management tools• Tools for decision making for sustainable
management of water resources;• Promotion of IWRM and ecosystemapproach for the management of water
resources and wetlands;• Identification, promotion and diffusion oftechnologies and appropriate measures foradaptation to climate change;Putting science into action

Roles of AfWCCIContribute to address the data and information
gap for improving the knowledge base forbetter water management at basin level
Capacity building, Education and awarenessraising on the contribution of Geo-Information
for better management
Enhance cooperation, synergy andharmonization

Way forward• Achieving Water security is a necessity for
African countries for their socio-economic
development• Sustainable and peaceful management ofwater resources in Africa must be promoted
through holistic approaches (IWRM) working
at basin level with RBOs
• Synergy, cooperation and coordination ofdifferent initiatives are indispensable

Building on IHP-VIII 2014-2021

Thank you for your kind attention