Very little of the Earth’s abundant water is actually accessible and suitable for human needs. This is especially true in Africa. At the continental level, Africa’s 3 931 km3 of renewable water resources represent around 9 per cent of the world’s total freshwater resources; by comparison, South America and Asia have the highest proportion each with 28.3 per cent, followed by North America with 15.7 per cent, and Europe with 15 per cent (FAO 2009) (Table 1). Africa is the world’s second-driest continent, after Australia, but also the world’s most populous continent after Asia. Table 1 shows that for the year 2008, the continental annual average water availability per person was 4 008 m3, well below the global average of 6 498 m3/capita/yr (FAO 2009).

Table1: Comparative table of internal renewable freshwater resources by world region (Source: FAO 2009)