The Horn of Africa is currently experiencing severe drought due to the worst rains in 73 years and five consecutive dry seasons. Droughts are occurring more frequently and becoming more severe, making it more difficult for individuals to recover after shocks. The region will likely continue to face drought concerns from a long-range perspective. More than 36 million people are impacted by the drought in the Horn of Africa, with more than 20 million of them experiencing the greatest levels of food insecurity. The growing population of individuals in need of food assistance, shelter in camps for refugees and internally displaced people, and the pressing need to provide them with WASH, health, and education services while assuring their protection. Lack of water for communities and cattle is what's causing the catastrophe. Water availability is not the problem; rather, it is limited access.
Future droughts owing to insufficient rainfall are expected to occur; it is not possible to reverse the influence of climate change on rainfall patterns in the Horn. However, the Horn of Africa has a lot of potential to adapt to climate change and lessen the effects of upcoming droughts. If agricultural productivity is to be enhanced enough to meet the expected population expansion of both humans and cattle, pastoralists and farmers alike need better access to sustainable water sources. Access to groundwater has the power to alter the Horn and spur sustainable development. Over 40 million people reside in border regions with little to no water infrastructure development in the Horn of Africa. Because they spend more time searching for or getting water, women are particularly impacted by a scarcity of water. Long-term water security will necessitate a change in the methods used to extract water for residential, agricultural, and cattle usage. Pre-feasibility studies, project pipeline development, and groundwater exploration in Africa's borderlands have many advantages. For instance, groundwater may support development, increase resiliency, and is accessible in most border locations. In times of drought, groundwater is also guarded from evaporation and pollution.
The UNDP Africa Borderlands Center (ABC) will develop climate-resilient groundwater and domestic use in specific borderland locations in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia as the world observes World Water Day this year, with the theme of accelerating change to solve the water and sanitation crisis. The communities of the borderland are developing groundwater detection techniques, water drilling/hydraulic solutions, and ecological infrastructure to meet their household, agricultural, and small-scale industrial demands.
Focusing on cutting-edge groundwater analysis employing radar and satellite technology has shown to be optimal, timely, and pertinent for development stakeholders in the Horn region. It is important to investigate further the effectiveness of methods in border regions, such as the Three Phase Methodology (TPM). The Horn of Africa's communities, particularly those in its borderlands, are falling short of SDG Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation.
Utilizing the Horn's enormous groundwater potential, which includes millions of kilometers of groundwater that are available, is a key adaptation option. The socioeconomic advancement and way of life of people throughout the Horn's arid and semi-arid regions depend on having access to water. Due to inadequate mapping and classification, the potential of groundwater in the Horn of Africa is underappreciated. Large groundwater potential has recently been found in the Basin Aquifer, which has a potential of 200,000,000 km3, or a lake the size of half of Belgium, and the Jerome Sandstone Aquifer in Ethiopia, which has a potential of 20,500,000 km3 of water.
Innovative groundwater infrastructure investments by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development and Member States, with assistance from the World Bank Groundwater for Climate Resilience (HoAGW4CR) special program, UNDP Africa Borderlands Center (ABC), and UNICEF Country Teams, can thus produce enormous incentives to support the achievement of water security in the border areas of the Horn region. Access to groundwater that needs additional scaling-up is already being worked on. For instance, the World Bank and UNDP collaborated on the Groundwater for Resilient (GW4R) program to discover groundwater potential and expand its access to deliver climate-resilient water solutions. The focus is on the sustainability of the water source, the use of the private sector in construction, and the control of these groundwater management plans.
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