Environmental change and water: Social, political and economic negative externalities

This blog is based on African Development Banks 2025 vision.

The last two posts on this blog, which if you haven't read already (go back and have a read), was based on future water projections at a continental and national scale case study. Now this weeks is going to build on that by assessing the impacts of water sustainability on the social, political and economic negative externalities that it can create. This post is going to be based on the African Development Banks 2025 vision, so also go and read that in-depth now to get a thorough understanding of the concepts and issues surrounding water sustainability and its impacts in Africa. Environmental change in Africa is leading to more effective water management implementations being needed. Water reservers are becoming increasingly insecure due to increasing temperatures and changing precipitation patterns. Thus, as this post will show, the effects of environmental change of water security can lead to significant negative externalities if not managed effectively. This post will be split into two sections:

1. The role of water in development if equitably and effectively managed
2. The role of water in development if inequitably and ineffectively managed


So what is the link between water and socio-political development?

It is worth noting in length the vision proposed in the report, as it sums up concisely the role that water has in the African socio-political context:

"At the dawn of the new millennium Africa faces a number of serious socio-economic problems that call for urgent remedial action if current trends towards endemic poverty and pervasive underdevelopment are to be turned around. The crucial role of water in accomplishing the needed socio-economic development goals is widely recognised. On the face of it, water should not pose a constraint to such development for Africa appears to have abundant water resources. It has large rivers, big lakes; vast water lands and limited, but widespread ground water resources. Moreover, it has a high potential for the development of hydroelectric power. Unfortunately, however, the sustainability of these water resources cannot be taken for granted for it is threatened by certain natural phenomena and human factors".

This highlights clearly that water and development in Africa is deeply intertwined, with both factors needed to create a suitable and effective socio-politcal paradigm in which Africa can flourish.

The role of water if equitably and effectively managed?

As we have seen in our previous posts, water in Africa is highly spatially and temporally variable. Much of the central Africa, such as Nigeria and the DR Congo are relatively water secure, with large stores of both surface and ground water; whilst on the other hand, much of the northern and southern regions of Africa are far less water secure, such as South Africa and Niger. However, if the water resources are effectively managed it can lead to significant socio-political gains. For instance, much of the economic output of Africa is weighted to their agricultural sector, with academics arguing (Mkandawire et al. 1999) that the long term economic growth in many African nations is reliant of a secure and booming agricultural output. Hence, an effective government management policy is vital to maintaining this economic activity. An example of effective management for agricultural output is one of the following (Glatzel, 2016):

- Contour haversting
- Drip irrigation
- Improved water infrastructure

Implementing these water management policies can help to dramatically improve economic gain, with increasing increasing high-valued exports such as horticultural products and processed agricultural products playing an important role in future economic growth (International Food Policy Research Institute, 2018).

Another socio-political outcome of effective water management is its ability for poverty alleviation by "lifting people out of the degradation of having to live without access to safe water and sanitation" (African Development Bank). Improving the general health of communities by suppling safe water can aid education and employment, thus helping to reduce poverty via catalysing better economic opportunities.


The role of water if inequitably and ineffectively managed?

Owing to the spatial and temporal variability of water in Africa, this natural resource has different externalities in different locations. I'll look at just a few here.

So firstly, a major example that is mentioned often is the management of the Nile Basin. The river Nile flows through nine individual nations on its route to the Mediterranean Sea. It is due to this sharing of the Nile's resources that negative externalities arise. There has been no basin-wide agreement for the management of the Nile (Laki, 2009), with existing rules of international water management being complicated and not equipped to handle any future water conflicts in the basin. This has led to inequitable sharing of the Nile's resources, leading to increased political toxicity between neighbouring nations due to water sharing disputes (Cambanis, 2010), decreases in social wellbeing due to pollution of the water that then flows downstream and also economic loses (Elsanabary, 2011)

Another example of the negative externalities that can be catalysed by the ineffective management of existing water resources is those of Nigeria (see blog post 'Causes of political water insecurity in Africa: PART II' for more details). As highlighted in the African Development Banks 2025 vision, much of Africa has plentiful natural surface and groundwater reserves; Nigeria is one of those nations. However, due to the historic "lack of sound early development policy and meaningful investments" (Ezeabasilli et al. 2014), there was significant social negative externalities that were created. For instance, in northern Nigeria, only 30% of individuals has access to safe drinking water (USAID, 2018).

Whats the outlook?

Overall, as we can see from the information based on the African Development Banks 2025 vision is that equitable and effective water management is needed to mitigate the negative socio-politcal externalities that are associated with a water insecurity. In the next blog we'll look at what effective management can be implemented to mitigate the negative externalities that are increasing due to environmental change affecting water security.

Credit: NewAfrican Magazine - Issues surrounding water can lead to militarisation, such as here in Burundi (Burundi is also relatively water secure so highlights the role of ineffective management as a factor in areas of water abundance)