GEO-6 for Youth: Africa
Mohamed Salah
Africa's freshwater is unevenly distributed and is susceptible to erratic rainfall patterns. Moreover, this availability depends on climatic conditions that consign arid countries to groundwater, and climate change-induced droughts have increased across the continent (UNEP 2016).
4.3 Rainwater harvesting
Water Harvesting (WH) practices are able to prevent erosion, increase crop productivity and reliability, and enhance food security (Abdel-shafy et al. 2010; Kimera 2018). WH is defined as a method of inducing, collecting, storing, and conserving local surface runoff for subsequent beneficial use (Prinz and Singh 2000). Water is collected from watercourses for use in household consumption as well as irrigation of annual crops, pastures, and trees; livestock consumption; and groundwater recharge (Critchley et al. 1991). Since the 1980s, NGOs and development organizations have introduced WH techniques in several African countries (Lee and Visscher 1990).
Although communities across Africa have adopted some WH techniques, uptake of these practices remains low due to high cost. The techniques can be classified into three groups: rooftop harvesting systems, runoff farming systems, and surface catchment systems. The latter is known as overland WH, where the harvested water is mainly collected from rainfall runoff, and has two categories; namely rainwater harvesting and floodwater harvesting (Prinz 1996). WH for agricultural purposes in Africa has improved the stability of crop yields and raised productivity from 1 to 3–4 tons per hectare (Rockström and Falkenmark 2015). According to UNEP (2006), nine African countries; namely Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, have a massive potential for rainwater harvesting practices. Kenya has sufficient rainfall for the needs of 250 million people (UNEP 2006). Recognizing the importance of this issue, many African countries are working towards widespread adoption of rainwater-harvesting practices.
Youth Action 20: Rainwater harvesting in Sinai, Egypt
Egypt is a water-scarce country and the Nile River contributes around 97 per cent of its water resources (Omar et al. 2016). The Egyptian government tries hard to fill the gap between resources and demands by maximizing use efficiency and developing non-conventional water resources (e.g., rainwater harvesting) in some areas where flash floods occur. A wide range of rainwater harvesting techniques is available and applicable in various geographical conditions. One success story involved mountain lakes as a low-cost technique for water harvesting and was implemented to support progress towards achieving the SDGs.
The technique was implemented in the South Sinai area, where water scarcity is the case. Since the area is characterized by its high mountains (e.g., Mount Catherine, and Mount Sinai), along the sides of these mountains, narrow
42 Farm cultivated with medical herbs
channels that drain rainwater into the main valley were installed, and small low-cost structures (riprap walls) (EGP25,000 = US$1 400) were built where the mountainsides meet, or are closest, to store some of the flowing water. After harvesting, the stored water is conveyed to the Bedouin settlements and can be used in agricultural, domestic, and industrial uses.
A group of young Bedouins started their own business near these mountain lakes by cultivating various medical herbs with high economic value. The aridity of the region drives the cultivation process to depend mainly on groundwater. For the sustainability of the project and the environment, they needed to rely on a specific renewable groundwater aquifer for cultivation. This experience shows the confluence between the desire of young people to enhance their income and that of preserving the environment.
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