Latest international research: Africa’s water resources are not fully utilized

China News Service, Beijing, October 29 (Reporter Sun Zifa) A recent environmental science paper published in the international academic journal "Nature" pointed out that a research result shows that water stress in some parts of Africa may be caused by inadequate infrastructure rather than a lack of water sources. This also shows that Africa’s water resources have not been fully utilized.

The study shows that water demand in Africa increased by about 26% between 2010 and 2020, but about 717 million people still did not have access to tap water in 2020. The authors of the paper draw a panoramic view of water demand in different fields and point out the problems that need to be solved to increase the availability of water resources in Africa. Increasing the availability of water resources is also one of the contents of Sustainable Development Goal 6 "Clean Water and Sanitation" (SDG6).

According to the paper, understanding whether water demand can be met requires a detailed assessment of water availability and water use. Water availability varies across the continent, with demand going unmet in many areas. However, an insufficient understanding of supply and demand differences makes it difficult to implement fact-based water management decisions.

In this study, in order to deal with the problem of lack of data, the first author and corresponding author of the paper, Davy Vanham of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) headquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka, worked with colleagues and collaborators to conduct a detailed assessment of water demand across Africa in 2020.

They studied water demand in six major sectors: cities, irrigation, livestock, manufacturing (including sub-sectors such as food, clothing and industrial materials), power plants, and mining. The data sources included national statistical offices of 49 countries; records from more than 450 water companies, 2,534 power plants, and 682 mining plants; and crop and livestock maps.

It is estimated that Africa's total annual water demand in 2020 will be around 347 cubic kilometers, compared with around 274 cubic kilometers in 2010. Irrigation accounts for 65% of total water demand, followed by domestic and urban water supply at 17%, power generation at 10%, and the remaining demand from manufacturing, livestock and mining.

The study found that, except in water-scarce areas, poor infrastructure in parts of Africa means even adequate supplies struggle to meet water demand. The authors of the paper estimate that a total of 642 million people in Africa (mainly in urban residential areas) have access to tap water in 2020, but there are still 717 million people who do not have access to tap water.

The authors conclude that the results of this study demonstrate the value of mapping water use and water availability at local scales and across sectors, and that such detailed data can guide investments to increase water access.