Nairobi — Nairobi and Mombasa are some of the African cities that are grappling with water shortages, a new report reveals, highlighting the impact of urbanization on meager resources.
A new report by the Centre for Science and Environment India titled 'The State of Africa's Environment Report 2024', which covered 25 cities on the continent, projects worsening conditions in the next three decades if drastic action is not executed.
According to the report, more than 16 million of the Kenyan population relies on untreated and unsafe water sources, such as ponds, shallow wells, rivers, and lakes, for drinking water--a situation that is dire for the urban poor.
Experts have now attributed water poverty in urban areas, particularly slums, to low supply, high demand, and poor water management planning.
This situation is mainly catalyzed by rural-urban migration, which has accelerated the population density in cities and towns in the country.
"Kenya is facing an unprecedented water crisis in its expanding urban areas like rural areas. Kenya is lagging in delivering water to its 50 million people, with at least a third of the population lacking access to clean drinking water," the report noted.
Speaking during the launch of the report, on Monday in Nairobi, Malesi Shivaji, CEO of Kenya Water and Civil Society Network (KEWASNET), noted that the current water system infrastructure is incapable of serving the accelerating number of people in urban centers in the country.
"There has been a dependence on the same infrastructure 60 years down the line. The same pipes that were there 40 years ago are the same pipes that are supplying water to the 50 Million people in the country," he said.
Furthermore, he noted that the lack of proper and sufficient sanitary stations, such as toilets, in cities has increased the risk of water pollution, thus exposing residents to waterborne diseases such as cholera.
"The lack of sanitation station has led to cases of open defecation, leading to water pollution," he stated.
Francis Oremo, Senior Programme Manager, Institute of Law and Environmental Governance, Nairobi, pointed out that lack of sufficient investment in water harvesting infrastructures in the country and Africa at large has greatly contributed to the shortage of water, despite the continent having abundant water sources.
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"There is no room for business as usual we have to manage our water very well or we shall lose everything," he stated.
According to Sunita Narain, who is the Director General of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) India, sustainable methods such as water recycling and incorporation of technology should be heavily executed to improve the accessibility and affordability of water on the continent.
"If we can use technology in other sectors I think it's very possible to integrate technology in water recycling, If technology, water supply, and waste management are affordable, it will be sustainable. If you improve water security people's lives will be improved. Reinvent our sewage system so that it is more affordable," she stated.
The report has thus recommended measures to counter the water scarcity menace in Kenya, which include desalination of seawater, groundwater exploitation, reservoir construction, interbasin water transfer, and domestic virtual trade.
Between the years 1990 and 2020, the number of African cities skyrocketed from 3300 to 7600, consequently increasing the urban population on the continent to 500 million.
