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Page 1 of 30 Problem: Africa suffers from severe water shortages.
Solution: Rainwater harvesting is a low tech, low cost solution offset shortages.
NAIROBI, 13 November (IRIN) - Rainwater harvesting has the potential
to solve most of Africa's water shortages, according to a new study
released on Monday.
"Africa is not water scarce. The rainfall contribution is more than
adequate to meet the needs of the current population several times
over," states the report compiled by the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) and the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF).
The importance of rainwater harvesting and storage for drinking and
agriculture lay in the fact that large capital investment was not
required and only simple technology was involved, Achim Steiner, UNEP's
Executive Director, said.
"As we look into what Africa can do to adapt to climate change ...
rainwater harvesting is one of those steps that does not require
billions of dollars, that does not require international conventions
first - it is a technology, a management approach, to provide water
resources at the community level," he said during the news conference
to announce the findings of the study at the ongoing conference of the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Nairobi.
A pilot rainwater harvesting project in the Kisamese area of Kajiado
District in southwestern Kenya has solved most the water problems
experienced by the local Maasai community, Agnes Loikert, a community
leader from the area, told reporters.
"Rainwater harvesting has helped women and children a lot," said
Loikert, adding that women used to walk up to 10 km every day in search
of water, leaving their school-going children unattended, before the
mini-reservoirs [earth pans] to conserve rainwater were installed at
Kisamese village. Women now had more time to engage in other economic
activities, she added.
The Kisamese project has the capacity to store more than a million
litres of water, some of which the community was using to irrigate
small vegetable gardens, thus enhancing the community's food security.
"In the popular mind, Africa is seen as a dry continent," said
Dennis Garrity, Director-General of ICRAF. "But overall, it actually
has more water resources per capita than Europe. However, much of
Africa's rain comes in bursts and is rapidly swept away or is never
collected. The time has come to realize the great potential for greatly
enhancing drinking water supplies and smallholder agriculture
production by harvesting more of the rainwater when and where it
falls," he said in a statement.
According to the study, Kenya, whose
current population is estimated at about 33 million people, had enough
rainfall to supply the water needs of six to seven times that number.
Ethiopia, where only a fifth of its estimated 77 million people is
connected to the domestic water-supply system and an estimated 46
percent of the population experience frequent food shortages, has the
potential rainwater harvesting capacity to meet the needs of more than
520 million people.
About a third of Africa is considered suitable for rainwater
harvesting using 200mm of rainfall a year as the threshold, according
to the study.
Ethiopia, for example, has rainwater harvesting potential of 11,800
cubic meters per person compared with annual renewable - river and
groundwater - supplies of about 1,600 cubic meters.
Kenya has rainwater harvesting capacity of 12,300 cubic meters
against its annual renewable water availability of just over 600 cubic
meters. The country's capital, Nairobi, has the capacity to provide for
the water needs of a population of 6-10 million, supplying each one
with 60 litres a day if rainwater were efficiently harvested, the study
noted.
The current population of Nairobi is estimated at 3 million, with only 21,000 people served by the city's existing water system.
With rainwater tapping, the Ugandan capital of Kampala, would be
able to provide adequate drinking water for between 3.5 and 5.5 million
people, each one receiving 60 cubic meters daily.
"Large-scale infrastructure can often bypass the needs of poor and
dispersed populations," said Steiner. "Widely deployed rainwater
harvesting can act as a buffer against drought events for these people
while also significantly supplementing supplies in cities and areas
connected to the water grid," he added, urging African governments and
international aid donors to put more resources into rainwater
harvesting projects on the continent. Readers have left 175 comments.  175. pay day loansgxchvjx 174. no credit check payday loans nbhhyquh 173. payday loans tfaalez 172. payday loans gytpyos 171. payday loans nqponjo 170. money mutual dceemw
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