Water Crises In The Sahel

The Sahel region is threatened by extreme water shortages and climate variability with temperature going above 45 degree Celsius. Barren soils constitute some 25 to 30 percent of the surface area of this region. The Lake Chad which constitute the main water body is rapidly shrinking while others have dried up completely making it hard for families to get access to water for drinking, household chores, farming and cattle rearing.

The Sahel region is facing one of the most serious food crises in recent times. An estimation of 10.5million people facing malnutrition in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Mauritania according to the ICRC. ( source: situation Alimentaire et Nutritionnelle au Sahel, Mars 2022- Cadre Harmonise).

The vulnerable children and girls found in those communities, are forced to go search for water and at times have to dig water from dried-out riverbeds. Oftentimes, the water is not drinkable but the villagers have no choice but to accommodate themselves with what is available. In some places, people wait in queue for 72 hours to access water point.

Most of the factor causing this scarcity of water has to do more of natural than human. For the sake of understanding we will highlight just two key points.

a) The Climatic condition. The Sahel zone has an arid nature, desert with little or no rainfall for at least nine months of the year and temperatures often reach above 45 degrees Celsius, making habitation difficult.

b) Contamination of Existing water sources. During periods of high intense rain, small water bodies are formed from previously dried water bodies. Such water sources are contaminated as they become the only means for survival for both humans and animals making it unsafe.

Shortages of water could become a major obstacle to public health and development. Currently, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that 1.1 billion people lack access to a water supply and 2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation.

The global health burden associated with these conditions is staggering, with an estimated 1.6 million deaths every year from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.

Thus the major impact water has on children in the Sahel revolves around the impact it has on the health of children. Some of the effects are :

A) Famine. Given the harsh climatic nature of the area, food crops can not grow, making everyone including vulnerable children to be always hungry and in most cases starve to death. The direct effect to this is that, the community will always be in constant poverty.

B) High Rate of School Drop out: One of the reasons of school drop outs, particularly among girls, lack of basic facilities like access to safe and portable water, clean and separate toilets for boys and girls. Most a times, instead of going to school, children are going to fetch water over long distances making them tired and weak to attend classes.

C) Community Conflicts. Such conflicts arise in areas like the Lake chad zone. Water scarcity has provoked crisis among and between communities. The lake chad area has witnessed several inter tribal wars, the most obvious reason is because everyone want to settle beside the lake both for their home consumption and for their cattle.

D) Biodiversity loss. Giving the poor climatic nature, the absence of portable water in the environment both animals and plant can not survive. Plants dry up due to lack of water, while animals die due to both lack of water and food.

How Can You Help ?

 We are an ecosystem, and our vision is to create a planet where both man and nature can live and thrive in harmony. Solving global issues like water scarcity requires a collective and holistic approach, and we can do this by:

I) Donate in Building Water Boreholes. Building boreholes in different communities is an efficient way to fight water scarcity in the Sahel area. Unfortunately, the construction of these boreholes requires a lot of money either in digging or getting the materials.

II) Implementing Irrigation systems. Improving water infrastructure in the area must be a priority. Irrigation channels can be created or applied on the Lake chad and any other rivers in the region. This will reduce the impact of water scarcity on ecological environment.

 III) The Installation of Solar panels. The Sahel zone can benefit from great projects on solar giving the high intensity of the sun. solar systems can help in the construction of irrigation, house hold consumption and offices for a sustainable economy.

It is our fundamental right to protect our plant and its biodiversity, I call on the UNDP and it our sisters UN Agencies to do something on implementing projects geared towards solar and irrigation in the Sahel zones. The Picture below depic, how youths in Africa risk their lives and migrate to Europe. We can collectively protect the right of for every child (UNICEF),to live and have a better future.

Photo Credit :istock, pixabay and getty images.

References

https://studenttheses.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A2626235/view

https://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/quantity/pdf/WSDGapAnalysis.pdf

https://www.researchkey.net/the-causes-and-consequences-of-water-shortage-on-households/

https://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/IWMI_Research_Reports/PDF/Pub039/Report39.pdf

https://ulspace.ul.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10386/677/Machethe%20e%20M.Dev.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242537840

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