Development impacts

Poorer households already struggle to access clean water and safe sanitation facilities. Major changes to the hydrological cycle will increase risks associated with inadequate access, including greater food insecurity, disease burden and low availability of livelihood assets (in particular land, labour and finance). There is also a danger that in the absence of more effective governance of water, localised resource conflicts could increase.

The challenges will not only be felt locally. National and regional planning process in a region like Africa are faced with stark realities including the internationally-shared nature of over 90% of available water. Governing this resource through shared river basin institutions will become a priority, but these institutions will need to be closely linked to emerging regional economic communities. Immediate priorities will include managing increased demand for the resource as population grow and demand for food increases, in an environment of increasing climate uncertainty. Adaptation strategies will need to account for possibly reduced and more expensive access to water for domestic use by poor households. However, responses should not necessarily be limited to water services delivery. Wider support across sectors to strengthen the livelihoods resilience of such households will enable individual choice in deciding how best to address future problems of water access.