Water Security in the Horn of Africa: Climate Change in Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti
Publisher: Climate Institute
Author(s): Marcus Arcanjo
Date: 2020
Topics: Climate Change, Cooperation
Countries: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia
The Horn of Africa poses a difficult challenge regarding scarce natural resources, especially water. The region is heavily reliant on agriculture to provide livelihoods for the millions that live there, yet climate change places enormous pressure on those people. As the temperature warms, population grows, migration increases, and the strain on water resources, both in terms of availability and governance, builds.
This paper explores the increasing impacts of climate change on water resources within the Horn of Africa (HOA) countries – Somalia, Ethiopia, and Djibouti. Climate change has a profound impact in the region, ranging from higher temperatures to prolonged droughts. In turn, this negatively affects many areas of people’s lives, from agricultural production (and therefore food security), livelihood insecurity and poverty. Poor governance exacerbates these problems to further entrench economic inequality. Moreover, transboundary and historical conflicts have progressively increased vulnerability within the region, making it challenging to successfully provide the basics to sustain human life. These pre-existing hostilities threaten to decrease regional peace and security.