Eritrea Water Crisis

Only 26-50% of the population has access to water, and that water isn't safe to drink.

Hannah Samson

Eritrea v Ethiopia War - 1991

In 1991, Eritrea gained their independence fro Ethiopia, although the fight didn't end there. Border wars continue to occur, and the government is forced to put their efforts into the soldiers. However, in 1999 a drought began and the government was too busy with the border wars to help with the ongoing water crisis. [1]

Government Involvement

As seen in this graph, the government spending every year is always above above the amount they can spend, leaving their country in poverty.

This pie chart displays the percentage of what the govenment spending is on. This shows that Metals, Transportation, and Machines that are all used for the border wars make up at least 43.6%, meaning nearly half of the government spending is just for their military. [3]

Drought in Eritrea - 1999

Desertification is one ofthe biggest downsides to the drought, and affected the biggest employment in Eritrea: agriculture. 80% of the citizens are employed in agriculture, and desertification increased the level of poverty due to lack of topsoil. [2]

Hardly any water is available to citizens, and when groundwater is found it isn't clean. The population is forced to take trips down to the Tezeke (or Setit) River to get water.

Drought is classified as a physical natural hazard due to the loss of animals and crop it causes (HEG Textbook 140). Due to the heavy reliance on agriculture in Eritrea and the already nonreliable rainfall, the addition of drought to such a region is catastrophic. When the main source of income for many is impacted, the poverty rates increase and the economy begins to crumble.

Water Crisis Locations

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1

Eritrea

location of the Eritrea Water Crisis

2

Tekeze River/Setit River

Source of water contaminated from Sudan refugees that set up camp where the river borders Sudan and Eritrea

3

Red Sea

The coast should give Eritrea rainfall and assist in the drought, but due to low rainfall this is not the case

Higher rainfall on coastal regions unfortunately doesn't apply to the coast of Eritrea. Typically, the land heats faster than the ocean due to wind and ocean currents (HEG Textbook 57). However, the red sea has historically low rainfall due to the high temperature of the water and having one of the highest salinity levels out all of the bodies of water on the planet. [4] Because of the lack of rainfall and unhelpfulness of the Red Sea, the drought could not be improved by the usual increase in rainfall like in other regions facing similar issues.

Tezeke/Setit River

Refugees from South Sudan use the river that borders South Sudan and Eritrea, the Tezeke River, to flee and set up camp. This contaminates the water and make it not clean to drink. [5]

The addition of the Sudanese refugees living at the river, the river dam sanitation, management, and waste have gotten out of control. With the government's focus being at the border wars, this issue has been neglected. [6]

Solutions?

Water for Eritrea - Improving the water supply for Begu Valley

  • In the beginning of 2017, constuction began by a project called Water for Eritrea[7] with the hopes of adding locations with clean water. They first went looking for suitable locations in april 2014 and hoped to complete construction by the end of 2019. Because of the global pandemic, construction slowed, but this is a solid short term solution. This is only short term due to the severity of the crisis and the lasting impact it has already had on the population of Eritrea and the environment.
  • UNICEF has partnered with Eritrea to improve water sanitation and accessibility with an emphasis on sanitation for schools.[8][9] This is a good idea, but with the lack of access of water to begin with, the ability to do this isn't as feesible as it seems on paper. However, if drilling for water ends up being a successful short term plan, the help of UNICEF using that suppy of water could become a long term solution if both projects are successful.

Sources

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

As seen in this graph, the government spending every year is always above above the amount they can spend, leaving their country in poverty.

This pie chart displays the percentage of what the govenment spending is on. This shows that Metals, Transportation, and Machines that are all used for the border wars make up at least 43.6%, meaning nearly half of the government spending is just for their military. [3]

Desertification is one ofthe biggest downsides to the drought, and affected the biggest employment in Eritrea: agriculture. 80% of the citizens are employed in agriculture, and desertification increased the level of poverty due to lack of topsoil. [2]

Hardly any water is available to citizens, and when groundwater is found it isn't clean. The population is forced to take trips down to the Tezeke (or Setit) River to get water.

Refugees from South Sudan use the river that borders South Sudan and Eritrea, the Tezeke River, to flee and set up camp. This contaminates the water and make it not clean to drink. [5]

The addition of the Sudanese refugees living at the river, the river dam sanitation, management, and waste have gotten out of control. With the government's focus being at the border wars, this issue has been neglected. [6]

In 1991, Eritrea gained their independence fro Ethiopia, although the fight didn't end there. Border wars continue to occur, and the government is forced to put their efforts into the soldiers. However, in 1999 a drought began and the government was too busy with the border wars to help with the ongoing water crisis. [1]