Climate Change and Water Resources of Africa: Challenges, Opportunities and Impacts

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Climate Change and Water Resources of Africa: Challenges, Opportunities and Impacts

Africa’s water resources, as in many other regions of the world, are facing many challenges including climate change. Climate change is one of the dynamic processes impacting water resources. Other processes such as increase in population, land use, economic development have also major influences. This paper presents the nexus of water resources and climate change in Africa. It uses the existing knowledge from relevant literature as well as the authors’ extensive work on water management in Africa. It looks at major global drivers of change and focuses on water as a decisive natural capital that if managed and used effectively can contribute to
economic growth, sustainable development and increased food and energy production in Africa. The paper focuses on the current level of water use by the various sectors and the potential and opportunities for future development. Sensitivity of the water sector to current climate variability and future climate change (i.e. likely additional pressures on water availability, accessibility and
demand in Africa as well as increasing difficulty of water resource management) are discussed. Constraints and opportunities for planned adaptation in the water sector and prospects for technological, infrastructural, social, institutional interventions that can improve future water resources management in an era of climate change are highlighted. Interventions that support the
development of robust water resource systems that take water infrastructure options with emphasis on water storage are provided through in depth discussion. The typologies of storage interventions taking the continuum of such systems starting from in-situ storage to large scale dams are considered. Comparison of the storage systems considering the inherent benefits and risks, and the additional impacts of climate change and the economic and social benefits are synthesized. Finally, the implications for future development, research, and policy are stressed.