Water crisis to hit Eastern Africa

Mugira Fredrick 18/11/2007
Experts are warning of devastating water crisis by 2030 in the countries within the River Nile basin if nothing is done now to address the issue of ever increasing population in this region.

Wagaye Teshome, a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) consultant in the Nile basin says there would be a crisis of water scarcity by the year 2030 in the countries that form the Nile basin due to increased population which is leading to encroachment on wetlands and forest lands which are essential in formation of rain.

There are about 10 countries in the Nile basin including Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt and Sudan.

Wagaye says that projections by her agency reveal that the population in most of these countries which doubled in the last 20 years will again double in the next 20 years, hence causing a great demand for water while its availability will be low due to encroachment on wetlands and forest lands among others.

Wagaye was speaking at the East African regional conference on Population, Health and Environment in Addis Ababa Ethiopia organized by the USA’s Population Reference Bureau.

“All the forest area will be under cropland by the year 2030 in order to support the population. Water will be a big issue as it will be much less compared to what is there at the moment,” Said Wagaye.

According to the Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) food expert, many countries along the Nile river basin irrigate their land, but with decreasing water levels, the water will not be enough for this and other needs.

She urged the countries in the basin to focus on irrigating their land and family planning, in order to produce few children and more food from the available land

Apart from Kenya and Egypt, all the countries in the Nile basin are among the world's 50 poorest nations.

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