Water shortages may make Africa more aid dependent
NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters) -- Scientists warned on Sunday that growing water shortages across Africa could drive the continent into greater reliance on food aid over the next two decades.
Issuing their warning ahead of a water conference in Nairobi, experts said that by 2025 as many as 523 million people in Africa may be without access to clean water, while farmers would not have enough water for their crops.
The shortages in Africa are part of a global trend in increasing water consumption, but the increase in household water consumption on the continent will be proportionally the highest of any region in the world.
Africa will face a 23 percent shortfall in crop yields due to insufficient water supplies, while cereal imports will have to more than triple to 35 million tons in the next 23 years to keep pace with demand, increasing reliance on food aid, the experts said.
"The crisis has to be addressed comprehensively at all levels, from the way farmers use water to international policy decisions that affect reforms and investments in water management and infrastructure," said Professor Frank Rijsberman, chairman of the Challenge Programme on Water and Food Consortium, a group of scientists and policymakers researching water scarcity.
Rijsberman's statement said that the number of people in Africa without access to clean water will more than double to 401 million by 2025, rising to 523 million under a worst-case scenario.
The meeting, starting in Nairobi on Sunday, will also discuss the impact of rules set by the World Trade Organization on water use, as well as ways to improve farming to use water more efficiently.
"Agricultural subsidies in North America and Europe determine where food is grown and policy decisions taken in the World Trade Organization are possibly the single most dominant factor shaping the global demand for food and consequently the amount of water required to grow that food," Rijsberman said.
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