Unlocking the potential of groundwater for the poor in sub-Saharan Africa

The role of groundwater and aquifers in buffering the effects of climate variability is increasingly acknowledged. The full potential, however, can only be fully realized with a more robust understanding of the resource, and of the variations in use and dependency.

Accra and its hinterland exemplify an African city with chronic water shortages, where groundwater resources offer opportunities to improve resilience against recurring droughts and general water insecurity. Planners and decision makers should learn from how households have developed coping mechanisms by diversifying. They should move away from focusing on large infrastructure and centralized water supply solutions. Conjunctive use, managed aquifer recharge, and suitable treatment measures are vital to making groundwater a strategic resource on the urban agenda — to achieve the SDGs and realize the human rights to water and sanitation.

Self-supply from groundwater means collecting water from springs, or pumping or hauling freshwater from shallow, dug wells, boreholes or tubewells. In the face of the high cost and inadequate supply of piped water services, the use of groundwater it more attractive.

Self-supply is often the only way for people in low-income and informal settlements, or in peri-urban areas, to access domestic water. It can also be a way of complementing public supplies for various purposes. However, this is seldom included in official water statistics or policies and it tends to receive little attention from investors. To change this, more light needs to be shone on the existing practices. An innovative mixed-methods approach revealed, a third of Africa’s urban population is estimated to use self-supplied groundwater for domestic purposes, as shown in the study “Estimating domestic self-supply groundwater use in urban continental Africa”.