The African Development Bank (AfDB) has formulated a $14.7 billion funding campaign to break the cycle of water shortages, famines and reliance on outside help across the continent.
"Utilisation of water resources is abysmally low, with only three per cent of the total renewable water resources exploited for water supply, agriculture and industrial use each year in Africa," AfDB president Omar Kabbaj told the conference.
The AfDB has set out its plans for raising the $14.7bn for African water projects.
Kabbaj said the AfDB would mobilise around $360m a year to 2015 - with the added funding coming from bilateral donors, multilateral funds, African governments and local communities.
Producers who are already struggling to grow crops in arid countries across Africa are likely to face additional shortages amid increasing competition from other sectors of the economy.
Only six per cent of the total cultivated land in Africa is irrigated and with other sectors battling for a greater share of water supplies yields are expected to diminish further unless improved conservation and management of water resources is undertaken. "Irrigation can contribute significantly to the required 3.3 per cent increase in food production which is needed to achieve food security by 2025," Kabbaj said.
No comments yet