GEO-6 for Youth: Africa


David Ngwenyama


Key Messages


Arid and semi-arid regions represent around 67 per cent of Africa’s surface area. As such, it is critical for African youth to play a central role in restoring freshwater ecosystems since this will endow them with more blue economy opportunities.


African youth should be on the forefront of championing water use efficiency in households, industry and particularly agriculture, which accounts for 90 per cent of total freshwater use.


Better water supply, proper management of water resources, sanitation and hygiene can reduce the global disease burden by ten per cent, according to the WHO. This is also crucial for fostering sustainable livelihoods. Against this backdrop, African youth should spearhead practices and policies that boost water quality across the continent.


Solutions for water problems do not always need to be complex, high-cost, or high-tech. Simpler solutions, such as clay water filters, rainwater harvesting, and wastewater reuse in agriculture could be very efficient and practical, especially in rural areas.


The blue economy presents multiple job opportunities for African youth in diverse sectors that include coastal tourism, energy and mineral production, fisheries, boat building, shipping, and ports activities; as well as emerging industries like wave and tidal energy; marine renewable energy technologies; aquaculture; ‘blue carbon’ (carbon storage in mangroves, seagrass and saltmarsh); desalination; and bioproducts (pharmaceutical and agrichemicals).


Due to their demographic dominance, African youth can revolutionize water management paradigms through effective community mobilization. The involvement and collaboration with youth in water policy development could, therefore, result in successful implementation of water policies.


4.1 Introduction


Water is a vital resource to sustain life and development on earth. Freshwater resources constitute only 3 per cent of worldwide water resources (Niemczynowicz, Rodda, Priscoli and Teich 1996). There are 63 shared basins spread over 64 per cent of the continent (UNEP 2010) and great rivers such as the Congo, Nile, Zambezi, and Niger. It is also home to Lake Victoria; the world’s largest tropical, and second largest, freshwater lake (UNEP 2002). However, Africa experiences freshwater scarcity: arid and semi-arid regions represent around 67 per cent of its area (Oyebande 2001). Freshwater remains a pressing challenge in Africa, with one in three Africans still lacking access to potable water due largely to uneven distribution of freshwater resources and increasing demand (UNEP 2016). Water scarcity requires efficient management to minimize demand and increase availability.


More than 64 per cent of the continent’s population lives in rural areas and owns small farms (UNEP 2010). These farms largely depend on erratic rainfall, which is why farms in Africa are the least productive in the world, and agriculture is the most unproductive sector in African economies (Filmer et al. 2014; Boutraa 2010). Droughts and climatic


40


variability worsen the vulnerability of African agriculture and make achieving the SDGs related to food security and poverty a real challenge (FAO and UNECA 2018).


Zambezi River, Livingstone, Zambia


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100