People are starting to worry about a potential food shortage in Burkina Faso. The rainy season did not deliver as promised, and now the crops do not seem quite adequate to make it through until the next growth season. The Burkinabè government has gone on a countrywide campaign to try to alleviate a food crisis by encouraging people to plant dry season crops. They are hoping to avoid food riots, like those that occurred in the beginning of this year, especially as December school strike season is beginning.
Unfortunately, with the possibility of food shortage problems on the horizon, there is another worry to consider: a water shortage. In an article on lefaso.net, Raphaël KAFANDO reports that water availability will likely become a problem in Burkina in the next few years. With the world population reaching 7 billion in October and the projection that it will reach 9 billion by 2050, the stresses on the world's water supply are great, especially as countries become more developed and populations more urbanized. According to the author, between 2005 and 2007, the demand for water in developing countries increased 50%. And oftentimes the water that is available is polluted, making it undrinkable or causing illnesses.
As the population continues to grow, water shortage is something that we're going to have to confront, especially in developing Sahalian countries like Burkina.
Below is a little snippet of the article. You can read the rest here.
Unfortunately, with the possibility of food shortage problems on the horizon, there is another worry to consider: a water shortage. In an article on lefaso.net, Raphaël KAFANDO reports that water availability will likely become a problem in Burkina in the next few years. With the world population reaching 7 billion in October and the projection that it will reach 9 billion by 2050, the stresses on the world's water supply are great, especially as countries become more developed and populations more urbanized. According to the author, between 2005 and 2007, the demand for water in developing countries increased 50%. And oftentimes the water that is available is polluted, making it undrinkable or causing illnesses.
As the population continues to grow, water shortage is something that we're going to have to confront, especially in developing Sahalian countries like Burkina.
Below is a little snippet of the article. You can read the rest here.
Au Burkina, une étude sur l'état de l'environnement indique que le potentiel en matière de ressource en eau régresse de manière significative et ne répond plus aux besoins croissants du pays. L'évaluation prévoit que le Burkina pourrait passer à une situation de stress hydrique élevé permanent à l'horizon 2010-2015. La demande en eau atteignant 69,7% du volume utilisable en année normale et 141,9% en année très sèche. Les facteurs à l'origine sont premièrement les actions anthropiques avec la mobilisation touts azimuts des eaux de surface et souterraines pour satisfaire les besoins domestiques, ceux des secteurs agrosylvopastoraux, des industries et des mines etc.
A tout cela s'ajoute, la pollution croissante des ressources en eau (domestiques, agricoles, urbains) qui apparaît comme une source d'aggravation du déficit en eau. Deuxièmement les changements climatiques sont susceptibles de conduire à davantage d'inondations, de sécheresses et de changements des régimes de précipitations, ces phénomènes devant frapper en premier lieu des pays comme le Burkina. Le problème d'eau est d'autant plus crucial que dans le monde, plus d'un milliard d'individus n'ont pas accès à une source d'eau potable. La consommation d'eau a augmenté de 50% entre 2005 et 2007 dans les pays en développement, et de 18% dans les pays développés, une grande partie de cette augmentation ayant lieu dans les pays les plus pauvres, dans la mesure où de plus en plus de personnes migrent des zones rurales vers les villes.
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