Delegates of the AU embarking on a journey to find a mystic supposed myth - Sustainable Water Supply
The African Union - a council where the issues that plague the sacred land of Africa are discussed. Delegates in the AU have engaged in heated debate over a very pressing issue - Ensuring Sustainable Water Supply in The African Continent. As small as this issue might seem, it is far more than being a small threat. Several key contentions are as follows: weather variability, reliance on water for agriculture and hydropower, and the purification of water.
First and foremost, the delegates were asked how they planned to minimise the effects of climate change on water supply. SABC was overwhelmed with the responses of the AU delegates, each wanting to answer the question. Ultimately, 2 delegates rose to the occasion. “There are two aspects to this question. The first being minimising the effects (of global warming) on water supply and minimising (global warming) as a whole, and the latter has to be done first,” is what the delegate of Kenya passionately exclaimed.
She went on to elaborate that weather-based impacts on water supply included, but were not limited to, natural hazards such as droughts. A problem that has plagued Africa for far too many times to count. Explaining that the council has come together, Kenya says that council has decided on an early warning system, based on previous records, in order for the government to plan and take action in times of drought and other such natural disasters, as well as flood control methods, allowing for the safety of the African people. Later on in the press conference, the delegate of Uganda also added that government legislations can be put into place, allowing for easy tracking of potential natural disasters, coupled with hired analytics for how often such disaster occurs.
Over-reliance on the production of agriculture and hydropower was also a key area of debate. With 90% of Africans relying on agriculture to feed and sustain themselves and that agriculture makes up a whopping 15% of the continent’s rapidly growing GDP and 65% of the continent’s workforce, it is not that difficult to see the importance of agriculture in our society. Hydropower is key in the African society as well, with states such as Malawi, relying on hydropower for 98% of their electricity, yet, these states are often faced with outages that can last for as long as 25 hours, more than a day.
Delegates pondered over this question wisely, ultimately deciding that in order to decrease reliance on the decreasing water supply, they had to turn to other feasible sources of energy such as “solar and wind power” to quote the delegate of Egypt. The delegate of Kenya once again stood at the center of attention, claiming that the main root of over-reliance was water and that there was simply no way to reduce reliance on it. Instead member states are encouraged to use tidal energy as well (in addition to the other alternatives aforementioned) and to find methods to curb water scarcity, the backbone of our economy.
Adding to this, the delegate of Cameroon also emphasised on more efficient irrigation methods, even if it is limited. As such, “farmers can still make do with what they have.” He also wisely mentioned that such collaboration with farmers have a limitation - how exactly were the respective governments supposed to reach out to these farmers living in rural areas? The answer to which will be sought for in further council sessions.
It is heartening to see the delegates of their respective African countries, come together to come up with such bright solutions. It is a definitive fact that Africa, or at least, South Africa, is being held in good hands with such brilliant leaders striving for equally brilliant solutions. The AU has achieved a clear, unified stance amongst its representatives, exemplifying the true African spirit of benevolence and care for the people of Africa. With this, the African Union is definitely headed in the right direction towards coming up with feasible and agreeable resolutions and decisions.
The African Union - a council where the issues that plague the sacred land of Africa are discussed. Delegates in the AU have engaged in heated debate over a very pressing issue - Ensuring Sustainable Water Supply in The African Continent. As small as this issue might seem, it is far more than being a small threat. Several key contentions are as follows: weather variability, reliance on water for agriculture and hydropower, and the purification of water.
First and foremost, the delegates were asked how they planned to minimise the effects of climate change on water supply. SABC was overwhelmed with the responses of the AU delegates, each wanting to answer the question. Ultimately, 2 delegates rose to the occasion. “There are two aspects to this question. The first being minimising the effects (of global warming) on water supply and minimising (global warming) as a whole, and the latter has to be done first,” is what the delegate of Kenya passionately exclaimed.
She went on to elaborate that weather-based impacts on water supply included, but were not limited to, natural hazards such as droughts. A problem that has plagued Africa for far too many times to count. Explaining that the council has come together, Kenya says that council has decided on an early warning system, based on previous records, in order for the government to plan and take action in times of drought and other such natural disasters, as well as flood control methods, allowing for the safety of the African people. Later on in the press conference, the delegate of Uganda also added that government legislations can be put into place, allowing for easy tracking of potential natural disasters, coupled with hired analytics for how often such disaster occurs.
Over-reliance on the production of agriculture and hydropower was also a key area of debate. With 90% of Africans relying on agriculture to feed and sustain themselves and that agriculture makes up a whopping 15% of the continent’s rapidly growing GDP and 65% of the continent’s workforce, it is not that difficult to see the importance of agriculture in our society. Hydropower is key in the African society as well, with states such as Malawi, relying on hydropower for 98% of their electricity, yet, these states are often faced with outages that can last for as long as 25 hours, more than a day.
Delegates pondered over this question wisely, ultimately deciding that in order to decrease reliance on the decreasing water supply, they had to turn to other feasible sources of energy such as “solar and wind power” to quote the delegate of Egypt. The delegate of Kenya once again stood at the center of attention, claiming that the main root of over-reliance was water and that there was simply no way to reduce reliance on it. Instead member states are encouraged to use tidal energy as well (in addition to the other alternatives aforementioned) and to find methods to curb water scarcity, the backbone of our economy.
Adding to this, the delegate of Cameroon also emphasised on more efficient irrigation methods, even if it is limited. As such, “farmers can still make do with what they have.” He also wisely mentioned that such collaboration with farmers have a limitation - how exactly were the respective governments supposed to reach out to these farmers living in rural areas? The answer to which will be sought for in further council sessions.
It is heartening to see the delegates of their respective African countries, come together to come up with such bright solutions. It is a definitive fact that Africa, or at least, South Africa, is being held in good hands with such brilliant leaders striving for equally brilliant solutions. The AU has achieved a clear, unified stance amongst its representatives, exemplifying the true African spirit of benevolence and care for the people of Africa. With this, the African Union is definitely headed in the right direction towards coming up with feasible and agreeable resolutions and decisions.
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