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dam-l Water as a commodity/LS
>FYI, commentary from the Zimbabwe Independent (via Africa News Online)
>
>Water: region's most valuable commodity
>
>October 23, 1998
>By Harriman Chidawanyika (Commentary)
>
>Harare - The best things in life are free, or at least meant to be. However,
> in Southern Africa one of the best "things" is on its way to becoming big
>business in the
>stockmarkets or in some cases a major export commodity. By the year 2016,
>some of the most
>successful companies in the region will be those in the water industry.
>
>Many Southern African countries are characterised by agro-based economies.
>Current agricultural practice is not sustainable. Scientific reports
>indicate that
>the earth has lost something of the order of 15% of top soil over the last
>20 years. Another 1,
>5 million hectares of mostly irrigated agricultural land is affected by
>water logging,
>salinisation and alkanisation.
>
>As the population increases we find that we have the same amount of land to
>work with and twice as many people to feed. It comes down to resource
>productivity. We
>have to get twice the yield from every acre of land just to contain
>current levels of poverty
>and malnutrition. Another dramatic change impinging upon our agricultural
>land is drought.
>For example during the 1991-92 drought and the poor rains since, Zimbabwe
>lost over 100 000
>cattle and had to import over two million tonnes of grain in 1992 to meet
>the shortfall
>caused by the drought.
>
>The World Health Organisation estimates that burning dung and drinking
>contaminated water together cause eight million deaths per year. Roughly
>40% of the people on
>earth do not have an adequate supply of water. Despite the South African
>constitution
>and bill of rights which was signed into law in December 1996 which
>provides for citizens the
>right to sufficient water to meet their domestic requirements, 12 million
>people are
>without access to basic water supplies and as many as 20 million lack
>adequate sanitation
>facilities.
>
>By the year 2020 it is anticipated that Pretoria, Witwatersrand and
>Veree-neging (PWV) will accommodate 42% of SA's population who will
>generate 56% of all industrial
>and 79% of all mining output. If the expected growth patterns are correct,
>water demand
>will double from its current 2 000 million cubic metres per annum supplied
>by the Vaal basin
>catchment area.
>
>Some of the governments in the Southern African region are already adopting
>projects that will ensure their citizens' potable water needs into the
>next century. The
>government of Botswana has set as a priority the implementation of its
>national water
>master plan. Walvis Bay municipality (Namibia) has allocated 25% of its
>1998/9 capital budget
>for its share of the >initial cost in the construction of a sea water
>desalination plant. This
>first water desalination plant to be built in Africa will be Namibia's
>first build-operate-transfer
>(BOT) project. Zimbabwe has set up the Matabeleland Zambezi Water Trust
>Company to
>facilitate the long awaited $6,7 billion Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project.
>
>A country that has already registered success through water as a commodity
>is Lesotho. Reportedly the ninth poorest nation in the world, Lesotho is
>already being
>transformed with rapid development of a modern infrastructure.
>
>Lesotho has one of the fastest growing economies in Southern Africa and
>since the construction of the Lesotho Water Project three years ago, Gross
>Domestic
>Product has grown significantly.
>
>Water is on its way to becoming Lesotho's most dependable export commodity
>and the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority is set to become an
>influential
>part of an economy that has hitherto relied heavily on the earnings of the
>Basotho workers in
>SA mines.
>
>Royalties of more than $50 million a year will account for up to 50% of
>Lesotho's total export earnings and for 14% of government revenue. The
>main purpose of the project
>is to boost Lesotho's economy through the sale of surplus water to SA and
>to relieve
>Lesotho of energy dependence by generating electrical power from within.
>
>The importance of shared water courses has always been appreciated in
>Southern Africa and Sadc has established a protocol on cross border water
>course usage.
>However, the growing demand for water will inevitably result in conflicts
>in management
>and joint utilisation >of rivers.
>
>The debate on water rights, usage and environmental issues relating to the
>rivers will
>become more heated. For example, in 1993 Botswana, Namibia and Angola
>established the Okavango Commission to ensure the long-term management of
>the Okavango
>which runs through the three nations. In 1996, Namibia was in the grip of
>a crippling
>drought and it >needed to draw an annual volume of 17 million cubic metres
>or 1% of the
>total flow to sustain >Namibia's northeastern provinces.
>
>Scientific research's initial estimates calculated that a 1% reduction in
>the flow at Mahembo >on the Namibia/Botswana border would have a 3% impact
>on Delta swamplands
>destroying >over 500 square kilometres of wetland.
>
>Although the Namibians made it clear that they only needed the water for
>survival, their request received a hostile reception from the Botswana
>community whose
>legitimate >concern was the extreme high risk of causing irreparable
>damage to a
>delicate resource.
>
>Faced with growing population in Southern Africa and the rapid expansion of
>cities, the demand for water will double. As a result, water will become a
>valuable
>commodity, >displacing some minerals in stock market indices. If your
>business is soft
>drinks, you have to ask where your clean water will come from in the next
>century.
>
>
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Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
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