Water in Ethiopia

Women are the main waster carriers

Text and Photos : Pierre Virot, former photographer of the WHO

This ancient country, old even before the time of Christ, is called the land of thirteen months of sunshine, (the Ethiopian calendar having twelve months of thirty days and an extra month of five days called Pagume). The climate is balmy and pleasant with rain falling rarely except in the summer months. Here, where the Queen of Sheba once ruled, primitive and modern cultures exist side by side. In Addis Ababa, there are new white buildings of reinforced concrete in the midst of bustling, energetic people. In the villages, families live in «tukels» made of stone with thatched roofs, and life goes on today much as it has for centuries.

Water is a mobile resource: it falls from the clouds, seeps into the soil, flows through aquifers, runs along stream courses, and eventually returns to the clouds. This natural cycle is the basis of all life forms and of the economy of nature. Water may be «managed» in different ways: it may be harvested, extracted from the ground, diverted, transported, and stored. This makes it different from all other natural resources. However, each form of management that interferes with the natural cycle exacts a price, not just in economic terms but in terms of environmental damage and greater health hazards. Moreover, water does not occur alone, it is rather part of a complex ecosystem consisting of the land, plants, aquatic and other life forms. The improper and unregulated use of water by humans will not only damage the water source but the ecosystem as well. Thus investment projects designed to enable users to have secure access to water will have to be examined from the standpoint of cost and economic benefit as well as in terms of their long-term impact on the environment. To be sustainable, water management schemes should respect the natural «logic» of water systems, and the ecology of which water is an important element.

It should be noted that Ethiopia is endowed with vast water resources. There are 14 major river basins in the country. A Water Resources Commission (WRC) publication, The Opportunities and Challenges of Water Resource Development in Ethiopia, indicates that the total annual surface run off from these basins is estimated at 104.4 billion m3. Over 95% of this run off drains to neighboring countries through the major trans-boundary rivers. Annual rainfall in the country ranges from less than 200mm in the southeastern lowlands to more than 2000 mm in the western highlands. Although a comprehensive national groundwater resources study has not been conducted, some surveys suggest that the ground- water potential in many parts of the country is high.

In Ethiopia the woman and the girl-child, by virtue of their traditional domestic functions are the main water carriers. For the average rural Ethiopian woman, roughly an extra 170 calories per hour will be expended while walking to the water point and 210 calories per hour will be expended returning with a full pot. Distance to the source, rugged terrain, the heavy weight of water containers (often 50-80% of female body weight) and adverse or aggressive seasons which further distance the source and dictate longer hours for collection are all major problems related to water availability. The provision of safe water supply at short distances will reduce the drudgery to which mothers and their young daughters are subjected. Mothers will thus have more time to care for their children and will also have the opportunity to engage in more productive work or in other social activities. Young girls will also have time to devote to school and studies.

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