250M in Africa affected by high water scarcity, says UN report

By 2030, 250 million people in Africa will be hit by a scarcity of freshwater, according to a UN report.

The State of the Climate in Africa report further said the phenomenon is expected to displace up to 700 million people on the continent by the same year.

“An estimated 58 million people in Eastern Africa are experiencing acute food insecurity, whilst another 23.7 million in Sahel and West Africa were estimated to be in a crisis or worse,” said the report released by the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

“Around 14 million people were internally displaced in sub-Saharan Africa for various causes and 2.5 million due to disasters, while out of five African countries are unlikely to have sustainably managed water resources by 2030,” the report further read.

To avert further deterioration of weather patterns on the continent, the WMO recommends the states to majorly expand early warning weather systems to protect livelihoods.

In response to the report, Mike Mposha, Zambia’s water minister, said his country is investing more in strengthening transboundary cooperation and has signed a number of agreements on early warning systems with countries with which it shares its natural waters, such as Mozambique.

Mposha said the agreements were meant to give relief and warn affected stakeholders so they can prepare for floods and other calamities.