African Water Development Report 2006 - United Nations Economic ...

in East Africa, Central Africa and nearly half ofWest Africa. SADC countries of the south havetaken the lead in pooling energy resources forregional integration by establishing a regionalelectrical energy grid system. ECOWAS countriesare also advanced in their plan for a WestAfrican Energy grid system.Water-related natural disasters is among thecommonest natural disasters in Africa wheredrought, floods, cyclones, food shortages, andpest infestations frequently occur, with droughtbeing the deadliest. Over three quarters of theareas affected are the victims of drought whichis responsible for 98 per cent of mortality fromthese disasters. The hardest-hit areas includeEthiopia and the Sahel region on the southernedge of the Sahara. Inter-annual rainfallvariations that are sometimes extremely highcause drought and/or flooding in most Africancountries which are vulnerable to flooding, especiallyNorth Africa where it is the commonest,followed by East, South and Central Africa,where it is the second most common, and thenWest Africa. From 1971 to 2001 episodes offlood accounted for 26 per cent of total disasteroccurrences in Africa, with devastating effects.It is therefore important to direct researchinto the behavioural patterns of rainfall to thesmall synoptic scales and mesoscales of climaticand atmospheric conditiions that could triggerfrequent rainfall anomalies in Africa. Specialattention must be given to further enhancingstudy of the hypothesis on spatial coherence ofAfrican rainfall anomalies in order to evolve anindex of anomaly that could be used to predictpossible anomalous rainy seasons based on advanceknowledge of rainfall anomalies in certainclimatic areas of the continent. This will also enhanceknowledge of the time necessary to beginand complete disaster mitigation.Sharing resources and knowledgeMost of the fresh surface water resources of Africaare found along major transboundary river/lake basins, some of which are shared by as manyas ten countries. This fact, which is generallyconsidered as a threat to water management inAfrica, has to be turned into a resource and aningredient for regional cooperation. Since riverbasins know no boundaries, be they ethnic, regional,national or international, they must beconsidered, analysed and administered from thisperspective through an integrated institutionalframework, by means of data collection and dissemination,planning of water allocation, pollutioncontrol and water resources systems developmentand management. Sharing knowledgeabout the value and uses of water as well as collaborativeaction hold the key.No doubt, concepts about the intrinsic value andattributes of water are still varied, but the resourceis mainly associated with two of its most indispensableattributes, namely, being an economicgood and a good of social value. As an economicand social good, decisions for optimal use of waterand its allocation for various potential usesshould be based on a socio-economic trade-offanalysis principle that is not tied to ability to pay.This would enable Governments to subsidizethose essential uses of water with a low ability topay – an action. more suitable and favourable tothe African socio-economic reality. In fact, eventhe rising block tariff system which works well inadvanced countries results in the poor living intraditional African extended family householdspaying more than the richer sections of society.In Africa, sharing knowledge and building itwould also help in the development of the necessaryregional and local infrastructure for adaptingand assimilating the most needed technologies,knowledge and information indispensablefor the development of the water resources ofAfrican countries in order to address the urgentquestions of food security, access to clean andadequate water and sanitation facilities whileconserving the environment. The strategic adoptionof IWRM principles for the implementationof the Africa Water Vision does not onlymean going beyond the traditional description ofCONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS369