The lack of food and water in Africa
Hunger. And peace in the world, I would say you should.
Every six seconds a child dies of hunger.
One, two, three, four, five ... six.
In the time it takes to read this article shall be fifteen deaths.
be that we have become accustomed to these data and photos of children surrounded by flies with huge bellies full of nothing with compassion and passivity with which earthquakes are accepted as an inevitable tragedy, insoluble and natural part of the landscape .
Not so, the Earth is no longer Malthusian y produce alimentos suficientes para todos; esta estúpida tragedia es sólo un problema económico más de distribución de renta.
Hay incluso cálculos serios sobre cuánto costaría reducir el hambre en el mundo a la mitad y cumplir así con los Objetivos del Milenio que se fijó la ONU para 2015: unos 150.000 millones de dólares al año durante el próximo lustro. Es mucho dinero, sí. Algo más de la mitad de lo que ha gastado EEUU en la guerra de Irak, o poco más de un tercio de lo que costó el rescate mundial de la banca.
Hablemos del agua dulce en ÁFRICA
Este trabajo no pretende más que ser una resumida revisión del problema del agua dulce en África. The issue requires a thorough information and reflection. The current report serves to raise awareness and encourage reader continue learning.
1 .- The problem of freshwater in the world
situate the problem of freshwater on the African continent within the context of the world's fresh water, since water is scarce or poorly distributed in the general planet.
In its latest report on the situation of water resources in the world, United Nations relates the water with some key concepts for human life. They are:
• Food: We need about 3,000 gallons of water to make our daily ration, which is multiply by a thousand what we need to drink.
• Environment: water-related disasters such as tsunamis, floods, droughts ... are, after high winds, natural disasters more frequent and devastating. In addition, water and sanitation are critical for survival and protection of health in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, because the people affected are often much more susceptible to disease.
• Energy: Hydropower is the source of 50% of electricity production in 66 countries and 19% in another 24. It is expected that by the year 2011 will give an increase of 60%.
• Transboundary waters: There are 261 river basins that cross political boundaries of two or more countries. These international basins cover 45.3% of the world's land area, affecting about 40% of the world's population and represent approximately 60% of the world's river flows. A total of 145 nations are part of its territory in international basins. Twenty nations have throughout their territory within international basins. Nineteen basins are shared by five or more countries. The Danube basin is shared by 17 nations. In the past 50 years have signed 200 treaties on this subject.
• Shortage: Currently, more than 1200 million people lack drinking water and some 2,700 billion lack adequate sanitation systems. It is estimated that this figure will increase to 3,400 million by 2025. For this reason, situations such as unfair and unbelievable that people who live in the Kibeira slum in Nairobi (Kenya), pay up to five times more per liter than the average American citizen.
• Culture: We see how in all religions and traditions of the world, water has great symbolic and ceremonial. Typically, this aspect is not covered when it argues against the access to water as a right universal human.
• Sanitation: A dollar invested in water and sanitation can multiply the economic performance up to 34 times, according to regions.
• Pollution: In developing countries, over 90% of discharges of sewage and more than 70% of the water industry waste is discharged into surface waters (rivers, seas, lakes) without any treatment .
• Agriculture: Irrigation increases crop yields between 100 and 400 percent. Over the next 30 years, 70% of the profits from grain production will be obtained from irrigation, for example. In agriculture uses nearly 70% of all Freshwater resources available. Excessive pumping of groundwater by the world's farmers exceeds natural rates of water supply at 160,000 million cubic meters a year, at least. Crop production requires huge amounts of water: one to three cubic meters to produce just one kilogram of rice and 1,000 tons of water to produce one tonne of grain. As their incomes rise, people consume more pork, poultry and beef, and eggs, so that a greater quantity of feed grain. To produce one kilogram of pork requires four kilograms of grain, and produce a kilogram of chicken it takes two kilograms cereals. An increased need for grain is a greater need for water.
• Disease: The number of children who have died from diarrhea in the last 10 years is higher than the number of people killed in armed conflicts since the Second World War.
2 .- The Decade of "Water for Life"
In 2000, 191 countries belonging to the United Nations signed the Millennium Declaration. From Article 19 of this declaration, under the heading devoted to development and poverty eradication, it implemented the Millennium Development Goals. They seek to raise a roadmap for the eradication of poverty in the world as a target of compliance by 2015. The Millennium Development Goals are eight, each with different goals and indicators for compliance quantifiers.
1. Eradicate poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Achieving gender equality and empower women
4.
Reduce child mortality 5.
Improve maternal health 6. Combat HIV / AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development. Goal 7 Ensure
conditions to achieve the others: reducing poverty (Goal 1), reducing child and maternal mortality (goals 4 and 5), combating HIV / AIDS, malaria and other diseases (Goal 6), getting girls to school ( Objective 2) empowering women (Goal 3) and ensuring that all governments commit themselves to ensuring a new culture of water (Goal 8).
On the topic at hand, our interest is focused on the Millennium Development Goal number 7, and in particular, goal number 10: "Halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water for the year 2015.
Despite efforts by the countries themselves and the international community as stated earlier, yet many people lack sufficient clean water to live. In fact, no right to enjoy this radically affects the enjoyment of all other rights.
In 2005 he conducted the first review of the objectives and concluded that on the African continent, specifically in sub-Saharan Africa is unlikely to achieve any objective. And one reason is that it is the continent with most problems in water supply and sanitation.
In 2005, the United Nations declared the Decade of Water for life. It was an attempt to relaunch the Goal 7. In the founding document five agreements raised an objective to meet:
• Meeting basic needs of the population
• Find environmental sustainability and ecosystem
• Transparency and integrated watershed management
• Social participation of affected communities
• Risk Management floods, land drag ...
In this decade have included numerous international institutions and UN
Development Program - UNDP,
or Organization of United Nations Food and Agriculture, FAO,
or World Health Organization-WHO-
or Organization United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization-UNESCO, with its International Hydrological Programme and the New Partnership for Africa's Development-NEPAD.
3 .- Water availability in Africa
a / Fresh water on the planet
the water that covers the land area, only 2.5% is fresh water and of this, almost two thirds is frozen or is inaccessible. The human being as less than 1% of water for their basic needs. Therefore, we can say that water is scarce, although scientists say it would be enough if it were equitably distributed.
water reserves depend mainly on rainwater. That runoff and replenish aquifers.
Man uses 54% of available water in rivers, which represents 8% of total annual renewable water.
For consumption, the WHO estimates it needs about 50 liters per day. In Spain we consume an average of 250 liters per person per day, while in some parts of Africa do not reach the 2.5 liters.
In any case, global water consumption increases by two times the population.
b / Unequal distribution of resources
Africa has between 9% and 11% of the resource, according to estimates, 13% of the population. This means about 4050 km3. The global average is 7600 m3 per person per year while in Africa is 5700 m3. Furthermore, the distribution is very uneven. Thus, while in countries like Democratic Republic of Congo have a 935Km3, representing 25% of the total, Mauritania has only about 0.4 km3, or 0.01 of total water.
Another factor to consider is the part of the continent is desert corresponds to 46% of the area.
rainfall distribution is not balanced. Are given much higher rainfall in Central Africa and West Africa than in South Africa, North and Horn of Africa.
c / Water in rural
The water supply situation in Africa is much more severe in rural than in urban areas, in Africa, 70% of the population still lives in rural areas, although the number drops precipitously, there is still much more rural than urban. As for the urban population, 45 of the 54 countries that are in the African continent have seen their population marginal ("slums") dramatically. In the past 15 years, in those 45 countries peripheral population has grown 60%, most close to 100%. Of those who do not: Morocco, Libya, Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia and South Africa have increased from 30% to 60%, and only Algeria, Tunisia and Zimbabwe have grown in marginal population in less than 30%.
On the other hand, 60% of African food production comes from rainfed agriculture. Water for irrigation is a priority for achieving development and economic stability. However, few countries can afford to conduct the financial investment required to install efficient irrigation systems and water loss due to leaking pipes and evaporation as high as 50 percent in South Africa.
is expected that the growth of irrigation is higher in North Africa and the Middle East. By 2030, North Africa will reached the critical threshold of water availability for agriculture. Sub-Saharan Africa, no additional land resource is available to be exploited because they require considerable investment is therefore likely that the proportion of renewable water resources allocated to irrigation remain well below the critical threshold.
is expected to continue Africa's dependence on cereal imports, thus leading to a widening net trade deficit and an additional difficulty to combat malnutrition.
It determines also the fact that 80% of food are produced by women, who suffer most supply problems.
Lack of water causes these populations more vulnerable to other problems, such as attending school (if you have to go up to 20 miles in a day is very difficult to go to school), health problems, deficiencies in worsening health and nutrition.
In total African population, 63% have access to improved water sources and about 35-40% have access to adequate sanitation. Only 24% have home access. In rural areas only 50% have access to water by 86% in urban areas and in regard to sanitation in rural areas, only 48% have access while in urban areas comes 80%.
By Region:
•-Saharan Africa: 57% of the population has access to safe water: 82% of the urban population and only 44% of the rural. 36% have access to proper sanitation: 55% in the urban population and 26% of rural.
• Eastern and Southern Africa: 56% of the total population has access to improved water: 87% urban and 43% rural. 36% have access to proper sanitation: 60% urban and 27% rural.
• West and Central Africa: 58% of the population has access to safe water: 78% urban and 45% rural. 35% of the population has access to adequate sanitation: 52% 24% urban and rural.
• North Africa: 87% of the total population has access to safe water: 95% urban and 77% rural. 72% of the population has access to adequate sanitation: 88% urban and 52% rural.
4 .- Sources
Africa has some of the longest rivers, broad, fair and mighty of the world, including the longest, the Nile (6671 km). But, moreover, are the Niger River (4,160 km) and the Zaire or Congo basin (4,200 km) which is the second largest river in the world and the Senegal (1,600 km), the Zambezi (2,600 km), Orange ( 1,860 km) and the Limpopo (1,600 km). Also in Africa are one of the largest lakes in the world: in this group is to highlight the Great Lakes region (involving countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo). Among the largest are the Victoria, Tanganyika, Nyasa, the Edward, Kivu and Rodolfo. Outside this region there are two other large lakes, Chad and Ngami (first in Chad and Cameroon, and the second in Botswana).
There are, however, large areas that have no surface water, so that the exploitation of groundwater is very important. The African continent has some of the world's largest aquifers.
Highlights:
• Nubian Aquifer System: under the Nubian Desert in Sudan and occupies the basement of Egypt, Libya, Chad and Sudan. It's got 150,000 to 450,000 km3, of which we can exploit more than 6,500, with an annual recharge of 13 km3.
• Sahara Aquifer System: corresponds to Algeria, Libya and Tunisia. Has a volume of about 60,000 km3, of which 1,280 km 3 are usable and with a potential annual recharge 14Km3.
• Murzuk Cuenca: between Algeria, Libya and Niger. Has more than 4,800 km3, and a volume operating about 60 to 80 km3. Iullemeden
• Aquifer System: between Mali, Niger and Nigeria. With a volume of about 10,000 to 15,000 km3, an advantage of about 250 to 550 km3, and recharging with a capacity of 50 to 80 km3 per year.
• Chad Basin Aquifer: between Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon. Its volume is unknown but is known to be drawn from 170 to 350 km3. Vista
distribution of groundwater should not be surprised that countries like Libya and Algeria 95% with 60% use of this water are two of the countries with more on the exploitation of this resource.
5 .- Dams and Water Transfers
is estimated that in Africa there are about 1200 prisoners. 60% of which is in South Africa -539 - and -213 Zimbabwe. All have been built in 30 years: 52% of them for irrigation, 20% for urban supply and 6% for electric power generation. In Africa, only 20% of the richest households have electricity.
Large dams have had a very negative impact on the nations and peoples. The worst has been the movement of numbers of people, and also the erosion and flooding of lands and desert encroachment, especially in areas near the Sahara.
deserve a special mention transfers, which in the case of Africa have been the cause of conflict or
solving them.
There are currently two major projects:
• North Africa Project Twilight. Affect the river Congo-Zaire. Born in Zambia and Luapula River and runs 4,370 km in Central Africa, an area of \u200b\u200b4 million km2. Supplies to the lakes Tanganyika and Mueru, and countries like Angola, Zambia, Burundi, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon. Since the born of the Congo Ubangi, comes to Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad and Sudan. Is diverted to the north, the White Nile to supply Egypt and Sudan and east into the Blue Nile to supply Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania. It also serves as supply to the Nile Delta, which lost a large influx of water by the Aswan Dam in Lake Nasser. Twilight
• South Africa Project. From the Kasai River, which originates from the Congo. Is the boundary between Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, some 450 km. Towards the Kalahari Desert, for the improvement of agricultural production. Benefits from one party to Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa and secondly, the Zambezi River into Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Also from the Congo River into the Gulf of Guinea, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, ...
6 .- Disasters by water
United Nations says: "The odds of survival in sub-Saharan Africa are doing better than in England in 1840. "
Climate change affects the entire planet, causing melting icecaps, rising temperatures and extreme ocean volume, among other consequences. According to the International Panel on Climate Change, it is most important and dramatic in Africa, the continent most vulnerable. It is expected that runoff, river flow and reduce water availability in the northern and southern Europe, accompanied by an increased frequency of floods and droughts.
Drought increases in the north, south and east of the country, causing famine and migration to cities, with the usual growth of unhealthy overcrowding their suburbs. The UNDP estimates that 25 African countries (among them: Mauritania, Cape Verde, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Malawi and Madagascar), suffer severe shortage severe water stress, especially for problems of major droughts.
On the opposite side are the floods caused by torrential rain, loss of vegetation on the banks of rivers, water transfers and large dams.
Lack of access to safe water and adequate sanitation helps spread diseases, exacerbate malnutrition and weakened health. Africa is the only region which is poorer than 30 years ago, where 43 of the 53 nations are chronically hungry and very low income levels.
About 400 million children, one in five in the developing world, lack of improved water. Particularly serious is the situation in Africa south of Sahara, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda, four out of five children unprotected surface water use or have to walk on average more than fifteen minutes to find protected water sources.
This situation is worse in rural areas, 27% vs 7% in urban areas.
not only cause disease, also prevent children especially girls to attend school.
For sanitation, one in three children in the developing world, in total more than 500 million lack access to adequate sanitation. It is worse in rural areas. Million children of school age are infected by parasites, which greatly hampers their ability to learn.
The water-related diseases are all parasitic, immune deficiency can be caused by malnutrition, viral infections, and diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis, all of which are known to exert a strong depressant effect on the immune system, All this aggravates problems such as HIV diagnosis.
Too often, the key determinants of health, as well as the solutions lie outside the direct control of the health sector. Are rooted in areas such as sanitation and water supply, environmental and climatic changes, education, agriculture, trade, tourism, transport, industrial development and housing. However, many countries lack the capacity to measure the effect of other sectors on health. Unless you address these issues, it may be difficult to prevent or control infectious diseases. For all this, despite almost half the African population under 15 years, its productive potential is diminished by hunger, cholera, malaria, tuberculosis, polio and AIDS.
addition, changes in land use and water can also have an important effect on the incidence and distribution of diseases. Deforestation, agricultural development, dams and irrigation schemes can trigger outbreaks of parasitic or other infectious favoring the spread of mosquitoes spread malaria or freshwater mollusks that spread schistosomiasis, of which 82% of cases worldwide occur in sub-Saharan Africa. They are particularly vulnerable
over 500 million poor people living in ecologically fragile regions. Among other diseases affected by environmental changes are lymphatic filariasis, dengue fever, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease and bacterial meningitis.
Malaria mainly affects sub-Saharan Africa, which killed more than 1.1 million people, about 85.7 percent of annual global proportion, and particularly to children under five years. The malaria disease is the leading cause of infant mortality. Another problem is
disease cholera, which are mainly found in West Africa. This unusually high incidence of cholera contribute seasonal factors such as the rainy season particularly heavy and large population movements in the area.
West Africa is located some of the least developed and poorest in the world. Climatic difficulties and conflicts also cause mass population movements, which carries the disease from one place to another hampering efforts to contain the disease. In addition, the countries most affected are those who have more food problems.
bacteria symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration. Cholera can be easily treated if patients are rehydrated quickly. The bacteria that produces it transmitted through infected water, a common problem in a region where the waters remain untreated and stagnant, and where people are not able to drink purified water. Debug
wells, improve the health system and train people in health and explain how it is transmitted the disease may help stop the epidemic.
Food and water transmit a variety of pathogens that are the source of most cases of diarrhea. In Africa it is estimated that a child has up to four episodes of diarrhea each year. African children have even a chance of getting diarrhea of \u200b\u200bup to 240 times higher than here.
People Africa is extremely vulnerable to these diseases because many are people already weakened by diseases like AIDS and malaria (in sub-Saharan Africa, 1.1 million people die annually, 90% are children under five years).
7 .- Conflicts related
"is more likely to get violent results in societies marked by deep polarization, weak institutions and chronic poverty," UNDP, 2005
In Africa there is a really serious problem, with 13% of total world population, has half the world's refugee population. We have already discussed the difficulties involved the poor live on the margins of cities and how that is a plus of aggravation in the case of water.
Almost 40% of armed conflicts occurring in Africa.
The Zambezi River basin, located in southern Africa, is one of the most used river systems above the convenience of the world. The countries that make up the basin usually compete for the waters of the Zambezi, although they have often suffered from floods and torrential rains. The region experienced in March 2000 the worst floods in recent times, which were exacerbated by the opening of the Kariba Dam in Zimbabwe.
Nile basin: Egypt warned in 1991 that is ready to use force to protect their access to the waters of the Nile, which is also shared by Ethiopia and Sudan. If the population of these countries continues to grow, competition for water could become fierce.
West Africa: When the level of the large West African rivers began to fall, all the economies in the area began to suffer. Ghana, for example, has become totally dependent on hydroelectric supply Akosombo Dam on the Volta River. Mali, one of the world's poorest countries, depends on the Niger River, which flows from Guinea to Nigeria. Mali is dependent on this river for food, water and transport large portions of the river but now face the risk of environmental disasters as a result of pollution. In Nigeria, half the population lacks access to safe drinking water and, as in many parts of Africa, many women have to walk road to get hours daily. As can be seen, much humanity should work for, from a culture of peace, prevent conflicts ends with water.
Despite the latent possibilities of conflicts occurring during the last 50 years there have been only 37 outbreaks of serious disputes with violence. In the same period, 157 treaties negotiated and signed. Disputes typically arise between tribes, sectors using water or states and provinces.
Let's review some violent conflicts that have had their origin in water:
• 1958: Egypt and Sudan for the use of the Nile, ended with a treaty.
• 1964: Ethiopia and Somalia, on groundwater resources in the Ogaden Desert.
• 1975: Angola and South Africa on the Gove Dam on the Kunene River in Angola to protect water resources that they obtained.
• 1978: Egypt and Ethiopia, Ethiopia wants to build dams in the headwaters of the Blue Nile, the conflict lasts until today.
• 1986: South Africa supported the coup because he was in Lesotho passed a law on water that damaged the Republic of South Africa.
• 1988: Cuba supported Angola against South Africa Caluenque attacking the dam.
• 1999: Namibia, Botswana and Zambia, for access to water in the Zambezi River basin. He took the International Court of Justice.
• 1999: Angola, terrorist attacks caused 100 deaths around four wells in the Central region.
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