Introducing Water & Sanitation in Africa




Hello everyone. Welcome to my blog on water and sanitation in Africa!

Why water and sanitation?

For most of us living in developed countries such as the UK, access to water is so convenient that we never really have to think about how to acquire it. Water supply issues and challenges seem distant. However, not everyone has the luxury of a constant and undisrupted water supply. In Mitlin et al. (2019), findings show that although UNICEF and the World Health Organization reported back in 2015 that more than 90% of the world's population used improved drinking water sources, more recent research suggests a much lower percentage, especially in the Global South. The research paper shows that access amongst cities in Sub-Saharan Africa were among the lowest with 22% of households having access to piped water.


We will begin to shape perspectives on water and sanitation challenges in Africa by defining 'water' and 'sanitation'. Water is a necessity. Freshwater is essential, not only for drinking but also for carrying out essential daily activities such as cleaning practices, cooking, food production, and sanitation practices. Hence, water is a very important yet limited resource, especially freshwater as it only makes up around 3% of all water on Earth. Griffin (2016) demystifies the methods of water resource economics and explains that water as a commodity plays various roles that are determined by social, economic, political, and environmental factors.

The most agreed-upon definition of sanitation is The World Health Organization's (WHO)'s. It defines sanitation as 'access to and use of facilities and services for the safe disposal of human urine and feces (WHO, 2018). According to World Bank (2003), water, sanitation, and hygiene are closely linked, because any inadequacy in these factors will lead to millions of preventable deaths each year in the poorest communities.

In Africa, as the population continues to grow and water use in households and the industrial sector increase, the level of water scarcity worsens, affecting 1 in 3 people in Africa. The lack of sanitation often results from water scarcity, and this forces people to defecate in the open, often in nearby rivers where the water is also used for other daily activities such as washing clothes and bathing. These practices lead to the death of around 115 people every hour in the African continent and are evidence of the interconnectedness of water and sanitation (WHO).

Coming up next

The UN's SDG 6 is to 'Ensure access to water and sanitation for all'. To achieve the target of universal access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene by 2030, significant improvements are needed, but how will this be done? This blog series will address this question by exploring the different challenges facing water and sanitation using a series of case studies, key events, and important discussions across a range of topics interlinked to WASH issues such as gendered sanitation and the politics of water.





Comments

  1. ClementNovember 17, 2022 at 7:14 AM

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  2. ClementNovember 17, 2022 at 7:20 AM

    This introductory post demonstrates a rudimentary grasp of water and sanitation issues in Africa. You have not shown engagement with relevant literature. However, groundwater can be discussed in relation to contamination in subsequent posts. Also, introducing specific case studies will help illustrate claims and arguments.

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