Urban population
Rural population
1.9%
1.9% 9.3% 7.4% 9.3% 9.3%
11.1%
29.6%
61.1% 25.9% 29.6%
14.8%
51.9%
22.2%
9.3%
5.6%
Total population* Urban population* Rural population*
*(N=54 countries) WESTERN
SAHARA
MOROCCO
ALGERIA
LIBYA
EGYPT
CHAD NIGER
MAURITANIA
TUNISIA
SUDAN
SOUTH SUDAN
ETHIOPIA
DJIBOUTI
SOMALIA KENYA
UGANDA
RWANDA BURUNDI
TANZANIA
MALAWI ZAMBIA
ANGOLA
ZIMBABWE
MOZAMBIQUE
COMOROS
SEYCHELLES
MAURITIUS
BOTSWANA NAMIBIA
MADAGASCAR
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
SSA NA A SSA NA A
NORTHERN AFRICA
AFRICA SOUTH
AFRICA LESOTHO
SWAZILAND DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO CONGO
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC CAMEROON
GABON EQUATORIAL
GUINEA SAO TOMÉ AND PRINCIPE
NIGERIA BENIN
TOGO GHANA
CÔTE D’IVOIRE LIBERIA
CAPE VERDE
SIERRA LEONE GUINEA GUINEA-BISSAU GAMBIA SENEGAL
MALI
BURKINA FASO
ERITREA
6 and more 4 - 5.99 2 - 3.99 1 - 1.99 less than 1 no data Improvement index
Percentage of population with access to improved drinking water source in 2011
500 km
100 80 60 40 20 0
Drinking water in Africa
Access to improved drinking water source and improvement index
National population
Africa 2013 - African Studies Centre
The columns on the big map shows the percentage of the population that had access to an improved drinking water source in 2011. An improved drinking water source is defined as “one that, by the nature of its construction, adequately protects the source from outside contamina- tion, particularly faecal matter” (WHO/UNICEF 2013, p.
12). This includes either piped water on a person’s own premises or “other improved water sources” (public taps or standpipes, tube wells or boreholes, protected dug wells, protected springs or rainwater collection facilities).
The improvement index is the percentage growth of the population with access to an improved drinking water source divided by the percentage growth of the popula- tion in the period between 1990 and 2011. In countries with an index of less than 1, population growth is higher than the growth of access to an improved drinking water source. In terms of shading on the three maps, the darker the blue, the higher the improvement index, i.e. the better the country’s performance regarding the provision of safe drinking water.
Source:
WHO/UNICEF (2013), Progress on sanitation and drinking-water: 2013 update, 14-35, Geneva / New York:
World Health Organization / United Nations Children's Fund.
This information was compiled by Dick Foeken, Marcel Rutten
and Nel de Vink
© ASC Leiden 2013 / DeVink Mapdesign
Benin Eritrea**
Ethiopia Kenya Madagascar Mauritania Mozambique Nigeria
Senegal S.Leone Togo Zambia
Lesotho Burkina Faso
Cameroon Gambia Ghana Guinea G.-Bissau Mali Uganda
Swaziland*
Malawi
Namibia Angola
Chad Niger
National population
Burundi Centr. Afr. Rep.
Côte d’Ivoire Rwanda Somalia*
Botswana Comoros Djibouti Liberia*
Egypt
Tunesia Dem. Rep.
Congo
Tanzania
Congo*
Zimbabwe Cape Verde*
Gabon*
Morocco South Africa Mauritius
Sao Tomé + Principe*
Algeria
Benin Chad Eritrea**
Ghana Malawi Mauritania Senegal
Angola Côte d’Ivoire Guinea Gambia
Madagascar Mozambique Togo
Uganda
Congo*
Gabon*
Burkina Faso Mali Sierra Leone Somalia*
Cameroon Djibouti Ethiopia G.-Bissau Niger
Urban population
Centr. Afr. Rep.
Liberia*
South Africa Egypt
Morocco
Sao Tomé + Principe*
Tunisia
Algeria Zambia Zimbabwe
Cape Verde*
Swaziland*
Comoros**
Botswana Burundi D.R.Congo Kenya Lesotho Namibia Nigeria Tanzania Rwanda
Eritrea**
Ethiopia Kenya Madagascar Mauritania Mozambique Senegal
Benin Chad Niger Zambia
Angola Congo*
Lesotho Zimbabwe Burkina Faso
Cameroon Guinea Mali Nigeria Swaziland*
Uganda Ghana
Malawi Namibia
Rural population
Burundi Centr. Afr. Rep.
Djibouti Liberia*
Sierra Leone Togo Gambia
Guinee-Bissau Comoros**
Egypt Dem. Rep.
Congo
Tanzania
Côtes d’Ivoire Rwanda Morocco
South Africa
Cape Verde*
Gabon* Algeria
Somalia*
Botswana Sao Tomé + Principe*
Tunisia
NA
SSA SSA
SSA A
A NA
NA
NA Growth access (%)
+100
+50
-50
0 +50 +100
-50
-100 Growth
no access (%)
Growth access (%)
+100
+50
-50
0 +50 +100
-50
-100 Growth
no access (%)
Growth access (%)
+100
+50
-50
0 +50 +100
-50
-100 Growth
no access (%)
positive growth ‘access’, negative growth ‘no access’
positive growth ‘access’ > positive growth ‘no access’
positive growth ‘access’ ≤ positive growth ‘no access’
negative growth ‘access’
Africa Northern Africa Sub-Saharan Africa focus country of Dutch development assistence Underlined :
2000 - 2011 1990 - 2008 *
**
SSA
A NA
Africa 2013 - African Studies Centre Drinking water in Africa
Access and no access to improved drinking water source
MDGsThe number of people with access to improved drinking water increased by 300 million in Sub-Saharan Africa and by about 351 million in Africa as a whole between 1990 and 2011 (WHO/UNICEF 2013). Although this is quite an achieve- ment, these figures are too low to reach the MDG of having 78% of the population with access to an improved drinking water source by 2015. In 2010, 23 African countries were on track to meet this target and, of these, 18 were definitely expected to meet it while the other 5 had made some but probably insufficient progress (AMCOW 2012). Nineteen countries, all of which were in Sub-Saharan Africa, had failed to make adequate progress towards reaching the target.
Growth in ‘access’
The larger map shows the extent to which the growth in the number of people with access to an improved drinking water source between1990 and 2011 kept up with overall population growth. For Africa as a whole, the growth in ‘access’ was 1.5 times higher than the continent’s population growth, i.e. an improvement index of 1.5. The improvement index for Sub-Saharan Africa was 1.7. Substantial differences between countries can be noted in this respect: some did quite well (particularly Ethiopia), while other countries did not keep up with their population’s growth.
Growth in ‘no access’
What can easily be overlooked is the fact that, between 1990 and 2011, the popula- tion with no access to an improved drinking water source grew as well in Sub-Saharan Africa, namely by 62 million (or 24%). This is indicated in the three diagrams that show the percentage growth of both ‘access’ (y-axis) and ‘no access’
(x-axis). The shading indicates the degree of improvement. The top diagram highlights how growth of ‘access’ in half of all African countries (27) was combined with the growth of ‘no access’, and the latter was even higher than the former in three countries.
Urban-rural differences
There are significant differences between urban and rural areas. There is more blue in the rural population map than in the urban population map, which indicates a greater improvement index in the rural areas (Africa: 2.1; Sub-Saharan Africa: 2.4) than in the urban areas (both 1.0). And there are many more countries in the green and light-green zones in the rural diagram than in the urban diagram.
Challenges
Sub-Saharan Africa faces two enormous challenges in terms of access to safe drinking water. The first is improving the still very low levels of access in the rural areas (51% in 2011), despite good performances in these areas between 1990 and 2011. The second challenge is the uphill task in the urban areas of keeping up with the rapid population growth, particularly in informal settlements.
References
AMCOW (2012), A snapshot of drinking water and sanitation in Africa – 2012 update. Publication prepared for the African Ministers’ Council on Water as a contribution to the Fourth Africa Water Week, Cairo, 14-15 May 2012.
WHO/UNICEF (2013), Progress on sanitation and drinking-water: 2013 update. Geneva /New York: World Health Organization / United Nations Children's Fund.
The African Studies Centre (ASC)
The ASC in Leiden, founded in 1947, is the only research institute in the Netherlands devoted entirely to the study of Africa. Its primary aims are to undertake scientific research on Africa in the social sciences and humanities and to promote a better understanding of African societies. It is an independent institute but maintains close links with Leiden University, as part of LeidenGlobal. The ASC’s work is not only of importance to researchers but also to policy-makers, journalists, NGOs, businesses and other organizations.
Research The ASC’s research programme lasts for a period of five years. Projects are multidisci- plinary, empirical in nature and are carried out in cooperation with African colleagues and institutions by the Centre’s researchers and PhD and Research Masters students.
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Publications ASC researchers publish in many different journals and with well-known publish- ing houses. The Centre also has five publication series of its own: Africa Yearbook, Afrika- Studiecentrum Series, African Dynamics, African Studies Collection and ASC Infosheets.
Seminars Regular seminars are held at the ASC on Thursday afternoons on a wide range of topics. These are given by prominent local and international Africanists and are open to the general public.
Visiting Fellows Eight African academics are invited to Leiden every year on three-month fellowships to promote an effective academic dialogue between Africa and the North. These scholars use their stay in Leiden for data analysis and writing.
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Thesis Award A prize is awarded annually for the best Masters thesis on Sub-Saharan Africa by a student at a university in the Netherlands or in Africa. The winning thesis is published in the African Studies Collection series.
ASC Community The ASC Community includes fellows, affiliates and associates of the Centre, and people with a professional interest in Africa who are working in business, policy- making, NGOs and in media circles. We would like to welcome you as a partner in the ASC Community!
http://www.ascleiden.nl/?q=content/asc-community.
Source: WHO/UNICEF (2013)
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