Water supply and sanitation in sub-Saharan Africa

Water supply and sanitation in Sub-Saharan Africa

aspect in a geographic region

Facet give	water supply and sanitation

Although access to water supply and sanitation in sub-Saharan Africa be steadily improving over de last two decades, de region still dey lag behind all oda developing regions. Access to improved water supply increase from 49% insyd 1990 to 68% insyd 2015, while access to improved sanitation only rise from 28% to 31% insyd dat same period. Sub-Saharan Africa no meet de Millennium Development Goals (MDGs, 1990–2015) of halving de share of de population widout access to safe drinking water den sanitation between 1990 den 2015. Der still dey exist large disparities among sub-Saharan African countries, den between de urban den rural areas.

Usually, water be provided by utilities insyd urban areas den municipalities anaa community groups insyd rural areas. Sewerage networks no be common den wastewater treatment be even less common. Sanitation often be insyd de form of individual pit latrines anaa shared toilets. 70% of investments insyd water supply den sanitation insyd sub-Saharan Africa be financed internally den only 30% be financed externally (2001–2005 average). Chaw of de internal financing be household self-finance ($2.1bn), wich be primarily for on-site sanitation such as latrines. Public sector financing ($1.2bn) be almost as high as external financing (US$1.4bn). De contribution of private commercial financing be negligible at $10 million only.

Water resources

Communal tap (standpost) for drinking water in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa. May 2005

Groundwater

Groundwater dey do big work for how people for sub-Saharan Africa take get water and survive especially because e dey everywhere waa,generally e dey clean pass, and e get the power to hold body when drought come and weather dey change anyhow.

Yet the sources wey dey provide clean water to drink for Africa no plenty, one research wey dem do for 2007 show say more than 40% of Africans dey use groundwater as their main drinking water, especially for the North and Southern parts of Africa.

Pipe water still be the biggest source of drinking water (39%) for town, but borehole dey become more important small small (24%). WHO (2006) talk say, for 2004, only 16% of people for sub-Saharan Africa get water for their house through pipe or tap wey dey inside or outside the house.Even when water dey for some of these places, e no easy to get clean drinking water because plenty things fit make the water dirty.Things like poor maintenance because money no dey, pollution and bad sanitation, sometimes also because money no dey.When dem build wells and water sanitation places, sometimes dem no dey test the water as often as dem suppose to, and the people wey dey use the water no get enough education about am.

Surface water

Congo Basin is the world's second largest river basin covering over 12% of the African continent

World Health Organisation (WHO) for 2015 report say about 159 million people for the whole world dey fetch water wey no treat from lakes, ponds, rivers and streams.Surface water for Africa sometimes dey very dirty waa.Things like sewage wey dem pour anyhow, oil pollution, factory waste and other things like that.For example, one study wey dem do for Nigeria show say plenty dirty things dey inside the water around there, like chemicals from farm wey flow inside, waste from town, and dirty water from factories.For another case study wey dem do for Madagascar, Uganda and Rwanda, the researchers find say there were important things wey dey pollute the water bodies across all the places.These dirty things include E. coli, nitrates, and heavy metals. All these things wey dem find inside the water cause big concern for the safety of the water wey the people for those areas dey drink.

Impacts of climate change

Make you read more about am: Climate change in Africa

The way climate change dey affect how water move around go also affect how much water dey available for people to use for Africa.For example, the way rain dey fall, how much e fall, when and where e fall go change.

Climate change go make the problem of getting water for Africa worse, but this go be small small compared to other things like population growth, people moving to town, farming growing and how land dey be used.Even though plenty things go affect water for Africa, climate change go cause water shortage for North Africa and Southern Africa. For North Africa alone, climate change fit be responsible for 22% of the total water shortage for that area.Climate change and the way society and economy dey move also go make water scarcity worse for Southern Africa as temperature dey increase and rain no dey fall steady, the water wey dey flow inside rivers for that area go reduce.Climate change fit also cause more extreme water problems like droughts, wey go last longer and happen more often for Southern Africa, and this go put plenty pressure on water supply.

For East Africa, how water go change no clear at all, because the climate models for that area some dey say rain go increase and some dey say e go decrease.As temperature dey increase, e fit make water evaporate more and cause glaciers and ice to melt small small, and this fit put pressure on water resources.But future projections show say the rain wey go fall go be more heavy, and this fit cause more water to flow inside rivers for places like the Lake Victoria Basin.

This part na summary from Climate change in Africa § Temperature and weather changes.

The temperature wey dem measure for Africa don increase small small since late 19th century reach early 21st century by about 1°C, but for some places like the Sahel, the lowest temperature fit increase reach 3°C at the end of the dry season. Africa don dey get hotter faster, as the warming increase by +0.3°C from 1991 to 2021 compared to +0.2°C from 1961 to 1910.Dem estimate say by 2030, the people of Africa go face sea level rising because of how temperature dey increase.This go then cause farm production to go down.The rain patterns wey dem observe show differences from place to place and time to time, just as dem expect.The changes wey dem see for temperature and rain dey different depending on which part of Africa you dey.

The current climate models wey dem summarise for the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report dey predict say drought and heavy rain go happen more often and become more intense.They also predict say the normal amount of rain go reduce for almost everywhere for Africa, and dem get medium to high confidence for this.But the way rain dey fall for different local areas and how society and climate dey affect each other go show different patterns for different places.So the combined effects of climate change go be different across the whole continent.For the villages, the way rain dey fall dey affect how people dey use water.

One study for 2019 predict say the dry periods inside the rainy season go last longer and extreme heavy rain go increase for Africa.In other words, the two sides of Africa's bad weather go become more serious.The research find say most climate models no go fit capture how big these changes go be because their grid scales no be fine enough to allow convection.

Water-related gender inequality

For sub-Saharan Africa, getting clean water still be big problem, and e dey affect women pass because dem be the ones wey dey go fetch water for the house. One study wey dem do for rural Zimbabwe find say women dey walk average of 4km every day just to fetch water.When drought come, these trips fit become even longer because water go be harder to find.Drought conditions don also be linked to more violence at water points, and this dey affect women more because dem be the majority of the ones wey dey go fetch water.To reduce the dangers wey come with walking long distances and violence at water points, dem don suggest say policymakers make dem invest in water infrastructure wey dey closer to where people dey live.One study wey dem do for Ghana find say when women no get easy access to water, their health no dey good and dem no get time to rest, because dem be the ones wey dey fetch water for most houses for Ghana and other places for Sub-Saharan Africa.The findings show say for every extra hour wey women spend fetching water, the number of women wey say dem dey feel healthy go reduce.

Access

General trends

Access to improved water supply and sanitation, in 7 Sub-Saharan countries, from 1990 until 2008. Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program (2010)

For sub-Saharan Africa, access to water and sanitation don improve, but the region still dey behind all the other developing regions:access to clean drinking water increase from 49% for 1990 reach 60% for 2008, but for the same time, access to better sanitation only go up small small from 28% reach 31%.Sub-Saharan Africa no fit meet the Millennium Development Goals wey say dem suppose cut by half the number of people wey no get access to clean drinking water and sanitation between 1990 and 2015.

These trends for water supply and sanitation dey show directly for people's health:the number of children wey dey die before they reach five years don reduce for the whole world, but Sub-Saharan Africa dey show the slowest progress.

The targets wey dem set under the Sustainable Development Goals for 2015, unlike the Millennium Development Goals, dey report drinking water and sanitation separately -that is, targets for access to clean and affordable drinking water (target 6.1) and proper and fair sanitation and hygiene (target 6.2).In particular, Sustainable Development Goal SDG6 dey focus on making sure water and sanitation dey available for everybody and dem manage am well for a long time. The SDGs also include reporting on hygiene, which the MDGs no include before. Access to hygiene facilities in particular is a major barrier to achieving combined SDG access, reducing coverage in SSA from 19.7% to 4.4% (data from 2017).

For 2020, 65% of people for the whole world dey use pipe water (83% for town and 42% for village).Pipe water dey count as an improved water source: Overall, sub-Saharan Africa still dey behind, as only 35% of the people dey use pipe water (56% for town and 20% for village).Inside these numbers, the access to clean and safe drinking water dey different from place to place, whether na big city, medium town or small town.

For WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) for schools, data from 2019 show say for Africa, only 44% of schools get basic drinking water, 47% get basic sanitation and 26% get basic hygiene.In general, children wey dey go school for village get less access to good WASH services than children wey dey go school for town.When children no get enough access to clean water, e dey affect them for different ways.

When children no get enough access to clean water, e dey affect them for different ways.One case study for Ghana find say when children no get enough access to water, dem no dey go school as often as dem suppose to.On top of that, when children no get enough water and cooking fuel, e dey affect their school performance, as the study show say their test scores for subjects like mathematics and English go down.

National differences

The differences between countries for Sub-Saharan Africa dey very big. Access to clean drinking water dey range from 38% for Ethiopia reach 91% for South Africa, while access to better sanitation dey move from 11% for Burkina Faso reach 77% for South Africa.The situation for Ivory Coast dey better pass, as 82% of the people get access to improved drinking water source.

The urban-rural disparities

Urban and rural piped water coverage in Africa and Asia in 2015: Access to piped water in rural areas of Africa is consistently lower than in urban areas of Africa.

For the whole sub-Saharan region, the number of people wey get water supply and sanitation for town is almost double the number for village, both for water (83% for town, 47% for village) and for sanitation (44% against 24%).But the villages dey improve faster, while for the towns, the water supply and sanitation infrastructure no fit keep up with how fast people dey move to town.

Different interpretations of access

Note say the words 'access' and 'improved' no get one clear meaning for everybody.The definitions wey WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation dey use no always match with the ones wey other surveys or national policies dey use.The government of Burkina Faso for example dey also look at things like how long you wait and the quality of the water.In fact, almost half of the households for Sub-Saharan Africa wey WHO/UNICEF say dem "get access to improved water supply" dey spend more than 30 minutes every day just to fetch water. Even though WHO/UNICEF mention this time wey dem waste for their report, e no affect their "improved" versus "non-improved" classification.

National stakeholders in water supply and sanitation

Since the 1990s, almost all African countries don start to move their political powers from the central government give local authorities:for Mali e start for 1993, for Ethiopia for 1995, for Rwanda for 2002, for Burkina Faso for 2004, ...Together with the decentralisation process, dem also reform the water supply and sanitation sector. The institutional structures for water supply and sanitation wey come out of it dey different across the continent. Dem fit make two general distinctions.

The first distinction wey dem suppose make na between water supply and sanitation responsibilities for (i) towns and (ii) villages. Most governments don create corporatised utilities to handle water supply and sanitation for the towns.For the villages, the responsibilities usually dey with the municipality, community-based groups, or local private companies.The central government work generally dey limited to setting the national goals and regulations for water supply and sanitation.

The second distinction, wey concern the towns, dey between those countries (mostly francophone) wey still keep one national utility wey dey work for all the towns for the whole country, and other countries (mostly anglophone) wey don further decentralise the utilities give local jurisdictions.

Urban areas

Involvement of the private sector in the Sub-Saharan water utilities. AICD Background Paper 12

For the last twenty years, the management of water supply and sanitation for towns dey increasingly go inside the hands of utilities wey dem newly create.For some cases, these water supply and sanitation utilities dey also supply electricity.Most of these utilities dey corporatized, wey mean say dem dey try act like private company in terms of how dem dey produce and how dem dey manage their own money.But still, dem dey different waa for legal status and who dey own them.

Dem had hopes say if dem create independent utilities, the business fit become commercially sustainable and attract private money.Almost half of the sub-Saharan countries don try some kind of private sector participation for the utility sector since the early 1990s, and the World Bank largely support this.. The experience with these private sector contracts dey mixed.Even though dem no succeed to attract plenty private money, some of dem still improve performance.But almost one third of them end before the time wey dem suppose end, like the one for Dar es-Salaam for Tanzania. Others no renew.

Today almost half of the utilities be public enterprises wey the central government dey own majority of am.Senegal be example where private involvement work well: the affermage (leasing) of the network give private operator don increase efficiency well well and help increase access. Senegal also receive outside funding for their water treatment and distribution network, that is a €64.5 million loan from the European Investment Bank plus a €5.55 million European Union grant give the Republic of Senegal for 2023. The funding dey aim to provide drinking water for Saint-Louis people, reservoir units, and to make the distribution network bigger, wey important well well to prevent people from relocating because water no dey.The €5.55 million European Union fund, wey dem mobilize as part of Team Europe through the European Investment Bank, go help Senegal water utility speed up their 35000 subsidised drinking water connections for 350000 consumers across the country. Besides Senegal, private operators still dey play role for South Africa (four utilities), Cameroon, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Mozambique, Niger and Uganda (for small towns). For Uganda and Burkina Faso, dem strengthen the public national utilities through short-term public-private partnerships wey be performance-based service contracts.

The utilities never reach all households for their territory. The number of urban households wey no get connection dey range from over 80% for poor countries like Uganda, Mozambique, Rwanda, Nigeria, and Madagascar, to 21% for Namibia and 12% for South Africa.

Some African utilities dey handle only water supply, while others dey handle sanitation too.Some national water utilities, especially for Francophone Africa, dey also provide electricity. This be the case for Gabon, Mauritania and Rwanda, among others.Fast urbanization and population growth for Sub-Saharan Africa don make am harder to provide pipe water access, especially for peri-urban and slum areas.Recent data from UNICEF (2023) show say even though urban access to improved water sources don grow overall,the number of urban households wey dey connected to pipe water still dey reduce for sub-Saharan Africa.These households dey increasingly depend on alternative water sources like shared standpipes, boreholes, and water vendors, wey often no reliable and no affordable. The gap between village and town water access still dey, as urban households dey better served overall but still dey face big barriers to get fair and sustainable water service.

Rural areas

The responsibility for water supply and sanitation for rural areas don in most countries be decentralised give the municipalities:dem dey determine the water and sanitation needs and plan the infrastructure, in line with the national water laws.. Various central governments don create national social fund (wey donors dey support) wey the municipalities fit draw money from to finance rural water supply and sanitation infrastructure.Even though the municipalities usually own the infrastructure, dem rarely dey provide the service themselves.Dem rather delegate this give community-led organisations or local private companies. Studies by the World Bank and others suggest say dem need to pay more attention to private sector operation of all types of rural water supplies.

External links

• The International Benchmarking Network for Water and Sanitation Utilities
• Africa Infrastructure Knowledge Program
• The World Bank on private water operations in rural communities The World Bank, November 2010, pgs. 4–6.