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Tuesday, July 28, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
The Southern Africa Water Wire
POVERTY: Water Wars Hit Rural Zimbabwe
When water experts warned at the turn of the millennium that soon wars will be fought not over oil anymore but over water, little did Zimbabweans know that they would be some of the first people affected by this dire prediction.ENVIRONMENT-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Ministers to meet over Zambezi Commission
Water ministers of countries that share the Zambezi River will finally launch a long-standing initiative to promote sustainable utilisation of water resources at a meeting in Tanzania in November 2008.
DEVELOPMENT-MALAWI: Irrigation Promises to Increase Food Security
Wyson Chandanga, a small-holder Malawian farmer from the northern district of Mzimba, does not care if the country receives enough rain this year. He is also not concerned on whether the rains come on time or not.Q&A: 'We Need Policies That Address Climate Change'
Last year, Zimbabwe's second largest city of Bulawayo faced a crippling water crisis, after three of its five supply dams went dry. Some high density suburbs went for over three months without water.Q&A: Shared Water Resources – Source of Conflict or Cooperation?
Over the past decade, numerous media and research reports have have anticipated wars over water in Africa. As far back as 1998, the Institute for Security Studies presented a research paper stating that water is "recognized as a fundamental political weapon in the Southern African region. Water will increasingly shape the international relations and security arrangements of Southern Africa."DEVELOPMENT-MADAGASCAR: Not Enough Money for Basic Water
Safe drinking water is a scarce resource in Madagascar. Considerable financial investment is needed to improve sanitation and water treatment and distribution for the population of this large island.
DEVELOPMENT-MAURITIUS: Water – Waste Not, Want Not
The 1.2 million-strong population of Mauritius presently enjoys plentiful piped potable water from the 2000 mm average annual rainfall that falls over the island annually. But large amounts of water are wasted, and with growing demand from new development, the island's water security may come under pressure in the near future.HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Bleak Future For the Country's Water
Earlier this month, a private pilot reported to a Johannesburg radio station that while flying over the Kruger National Park, in the far eastern reaches of the country, he had spotted the carcasses of several large crocodiles floating in the Olifants River. This was unusual because the crocodiles within the country's largest game reserve are protected from hunting.
HEALTH-MALAWI: Water Woes in Model Hospital
Gladys Mawera's face is contorted with pain -– both she and her newborn baby survived a complicated birth three days ago - but she has not been able to take the painkillers and antibiotics prescribed to her by the medical personnel at the Chiradzulu District Hospital in southern Malawi. The hospital has been without water for five days.
DEVELOPMENT-ANGOLA: Stressing the Importance of Clean Water
A survey of Angolan households has revealed less than half of caregivers always treat water with a reliable method before giving it to children. And one third of those interviewed by Population Services International (PSI) believes water is blessed by God and does not need to be sterilised before use.
DEVELOPMENT-ANGOLA: Absorbing Lessons on Clean Water
Playing happily in the sand with her twin sister, it's hard to believe Vivia Paulino was only months ago on the brink of death.DEVELOPMENT: Blessed and Cursed by Water
Millions of people are threatened by poor, unreliable, or non-existent water resources, and climate change could make things worse. IPS looked at some of the issues before participants at a World Bank conference on water and sanitation issues held in Oslo last week.Q&A: Malawian Aquaculture Initiative Gives Cause for Quiet Hope
From time immemorial, fishermen on Lake Malawi have depended on the chambo to help feed their families - all without upsetting the stocks of this fish species. Following the start of commercial fishing on the lake, however, the annual catch of chambo plunged, from 3,250 tonnes in 1985 to 207 tonnes in 2002.DEVELOPMENT-BOTSWANA: Of Tourists, Bushmen – and a Borehole
A planned lodge development at the settlement of Molapo in Botswana's Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) has become a source of controversy.
TANZANIA: Running Water Remains a Pipe Dream for Many
Juma Membe is a doorstep salesman with a commodity no one in his poor Dar es Salaam neighbourhood can refuse. Every inch of space in his handcart is occupied with canary yellow jerry cans of safe drinking water ready for home delivery.Q&A: "We Are Certainly Making Progress, But It's Slow"
When it comes to getting water supplies in Dar es Salaam, it's too expensive to be poor.HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Suffer the Little Children
Located high in the Drakensburg Mountains of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa, Sterkspruit is a picturesque rural area that includes several tribal villages. In the midst of this natural beauty, however, a tragedy has been unfolding over recent months.DEVELOPMENT: Food Security Requires New Approach to Water
The ongoing food crisis, characterised by growing shortages and rising prices of staple commodities, has far reaching implications for the world's scarce water resources, says a new study released here.
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Water "Undervalued and Not Treated With Respect"
A two-day conference on water issues in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which opened Wednesday in Maseru, Lesotho, has seen representatives of government, civil society, the private sector, donors and other groups discuss the likely effects of climate change on development in the region.DEVELOPMENT-ZAMBIA: Counting the Cost of Recent Floods
Samson Mwenda, a farmer from Namwala in Zambia’s Southern Province, recalls with bitterness the massive floods of the 2007/2008 rainy season and the harsh consequences they had for his life.MOZAMBIQUE: Officials Master Floods – But Battle To Contain Diseases That Follow
More people have died of cholera following recent floods in Mozambique than the number of those who perished in the rising floodwaters. Most rivers in central and northern Mozambique burst their banks after heavy rains in December, January and February, and as a result of Cyclone Jokwe - which hit in early March.« Previous Page — Next Page »
The Southern Africa Water Wire provides in-depth coverage of a diverse range of water-related issues in Africa, linking water to economic development, social well-being and environmental protection. Local journalists from across the continent explore the challenges, failures and successes of managing this vital resource.
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