Abstract
Groundwater is a critical underlying resource for human survival and economic development in extensive drought-prone areas of Sub-Saharan Africa such as the Sahel region. Here, recurrent droughts are dominant climate risks that compromise livelihoods, water, and food security, and exert a major negative effect on GDP growth in one-third of the continent’s countries. Some of these countries belong to the poorest in the world, with a large part of the population depending on subsistence farming and face huge impacts. With projected climate change impacts and huge population growth, environmental and water stresses will be further amplified. Land degradation due to overgrazing is causing herders to move farther south to find suitable grazing areas, which is also fuelling social unrest. With climate change and population growth, water development in Africa needs to go forward in ways that consider all water sources in conjunction. Further, despite huge solar and other power potentials in the region, two-thirds of the Sahel population do not have access to electricity, hampering social and economic development, as well as access to groundwater. As the sectors of water, energy and food are closely interlinked, a cross-sectoral Nexus approach can help to develop sustainable solutions, address this complex geo-political challenge and accelerate the achievement of the UN SDGs.
Presenters
Daphne GondhalekarResearch Scientist, Chair of Urban Water Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Bayern, Germany
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2023 Special Focus: Agency in an Era of Displacement and Social Change
KEYWORDS
Sub-Saharan Africa; Development; Climate Change Adaptation; Water-Energy-Food Nexus; Ecosystem Services
