Water Scarcity in Uganda. Social Sciences. Group project

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Water Scarcity in Uganda
Water scarcity is one of the main environmental problems that we see Africa struggling with, especially in Uganda. Water scarcity is the depletion of sustainable water resources in a certain region where the demand for water is high. In Africa it is estimated that over 800 million people are suffering from a lack of sustainable water. According to the World Health Organization around 40 percent of the worlds water stress population lives in Sub-Saharan Africa. Uganda is home to around 42 million people, but several million of those people die each year due to not having clean water. In fact, consumption of contaminated water is one of the leading causes of death.  With the demand for water increasing in Uganda and the minuscule amount of rain fall that they see a year, water has become a limited resource. Some of the main causes of water scarcity are rapid population growth, economic development and water pollution. Unless a change is made by Uganda's people they soon will be reliant on obtaining water from outside sources.
The first main cause of water scarcity is rapid population growth. As population is increasing at an ever-increasing rate, the demand for new resources will result in additional pressure on freshwater sources. The rising population in Uganda has put an increase on the amount of water being demanded. Sub-Saharan Africa which is home to Uganda has the largest population of settlements who cannot provide basic living conditions, also known as urban slums. This "urban slum" lifestyle is cause by an absence of access to clean water, and without clean water it is very hard to stay healthy and grow food. As more and more people are forced to join the "urban slum" communities they all rely on the same water resource, which is causing less water to be distributed to each family. It is a domino effect. As the population grows the high demand for water is created, but the amount of sustainable water stays the same causing that water source to be depleted quicker. The increase in "urban slum" populations has caused pollution to become a fundamental factor in water scarcity as well.
The next cause of water scarcity is pollution. The most basic definition of water pollution is any unnatural substance found in the water, that may cause harm to humans or the environment. According to Water.org 75 percent of Uganda's populations does not have water-based sanitation resources such as toilets and bathing facilities. What the basically means is that the people without water-based sanitation resources have to dispose of human waste in open areas. This causes water resources to become contaminated and makes it very easy to spread water borne diseases. Water borne diseases such as Cholera and diarrhea claim several millions of lives each year. For the people of Uganda most of their drinking water can be found in ponds, rivers, and lakes. One can see how open defecation can cause these water sources to become contaminated. Instead of attending school it is not out of the ordinary to see kids and their mothers in search of clean water throughout the day. The daily struggle to find water is keeping kids out of school giving them a huge disadvantage when it comes to finding work, causing the economic status of certain families to drop, hurting the overall system.
The economic development has also been a contributing factor the water scarcity problem. Economic development refers to the adoption of new technologies and the transition to industry-based economy from agriculture based, while also improving living standards. Water scarcity is not necessary caused by a lack of physical water. Something called "Economic Water Scarcity" is the real underlying problem for a lack of clean water. To put "Economic Water Scarcity" into simple terms, it is when the economy of a region is not investing in water resources relevant to the amount of people who live in that region. So, when there isn’t any money going into a sustainable clean water source how is the problem ever going to get solved. Uganda main drinking water sources are from rivers, ponds and lakes, but due to poor management of the water most of it has become contaminated leading to major shortages. Uganda's work force is predominately made of agricultural jobs such as farming. There has been a steady decline in the agricultural productions in Uganda posing massive problems for food shortages and export trade with other countries. The leading cause of the agricultural decline is due to the amount of polluted water getting into the crops, but it all ties back to not having enough clean water to completed daily tasks.
The water scarcity problem in Uganda is a domino effect that starts with the rapidly growing population. If the population growth would slow then it could give the government some time to implement some alternatives to accessing clean water. Since the population refuses to slow you will continue to see an increase in the amount of "urban slum" communities. Which we now know will cause more water to be polluted due to people not having water-based sanitation facilities. So now with a very limited amount of clean water that will force kids to miss school in search for some water it will drive the economy down. Also, since Uganda has poor management when it comes to preserving clean water it is bound to make clean water sources rare in this region. Forcing them to have to look and trade elsewhere for clean water.  In result of contaminated water, the farmers will struggle to grow crops which leads to the people of Uganda in search of another food source. So, as you see there is numerous cause to water scarcity in Uganda and they all tie together to make the problem even more disastrous.
Water scarcity in Uganda has multiple contributing factors such as economic growth, rapidly growing population, and polluted water. Africa is considered one of the poorest continents in the world, therefore financially, Africa cannot afford to research and develop ways to access clean water. Outside resources have been allocated to Uganda to aid in the effort to establish clean and usable water. Some of the outside resources have been charities and relief groups. But these charities and relief groups are only able to run and thrive with the support of donations. In order for Uganda to receive clean usable water, Uganda will have to seek out other forms of solutions.
The Clean Water Project launched a project in 2010, partnering with The Water Trust organization, to build wells in Uganda. Many do not know that surface water is heavily polluted and ground water is naturally preserved and protected from disease and bacteria. Therefore building wells is a efficient way to gain access to clean water. But wells need maintenance and care, if wells do not receive adequate maintenance or care the water being pumped out can be contaminated.
Water purification is another solution aimed to allow Ugandans to access clean drinking water. Ugandans were introduced to the Life Straw, which is a device used to purify water and allow Ugandans to drink water straight from a river or other water source. The Life Straw is manufactured by Vestergaard Frandsen, and then delivered to the Ugandan people. The Life Straw works by allowing water to be drained through a tube which contains a filter. The debris i...