The value of water: a perspective from sub-Saharan Africa

Sustainable ecosystems are critical for food security and well-being in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Prioritization of the intensive production of water-hungry crops for export has detrimentally impacted ecosystems. Land uses should be less water-intensive to increase the volume and quality of water in rivers. Governments should allocate water based on the total value (economic, socioeconomic and environmental) that the water will generate from a use, including flow-on and long-term benefits. Most people in SSA face many challenges causing multi-dimensional poverty: insecure access to food, WASH services, housing, education and jobs. Hence, reducing water allocated for domestic food production and WASH services in favor of ecosystems might not always be wise in the short term. On this basis, we discuss the short and long-term benefits flowing from allocating water for four major uses: i) domestic food production and job creation to provide physical and economic access to sufficient nutritional food for a healthy and productive life; ii) WASH services, for a healthier, better educated and more productive population with economic access to food; iii) export commodity production, allocation to this purpose should be limited to commodities, which generates the highest number of jobs and export revenue for Africa per unit of water and allows more water to remain in rivers and lakes; and iv) sustainable ecosystems, the focus should be on ecosystems, which generates jobs and nutrition such as fisheries and tourism. We provide a conceptual framework of benefits to guide policymakers making trade-offs between different uses when allocating scarce water.