I am a self-confessed map lover, so was particularly taken by this Community Mapping project. A group of students originally from Rutgers University are using the work of NGOs such as Childfund to help communities in Africa adjust to water scarcity. Their aim is ‘to map the demands, problems, progress and regression of African countries’ in order to ‘educate the public and raise awareness’ (Mapping Water Issues in Africa: Our Goal).
Throughout history maps have been used as power tools by the elite, but projects like this put the cartography process in the hands of the community. As GIS technology becomes increasingly user-friendly, individuals are able to contribute and affect policy decisions. Adapting to water scarcity requires group action and incorporating local knowledge is a highly effective approach.
The team acknowledge that issues of water stress are not simply down to a shortage of supply. They have worked with locals to map different data including water quality, the Ibrahim Index (degree of political stability), population living under $2 a day and mortality rates.
Several important observations have come from this: North Africa and South Africa show the highest improvements in water sanitation, most particularly in urban areas (Mapping Water Issues in Africa: Observations). This can be seen to be correlated to the Ibrahim Index, with more democratic countries having higher sanitation levels; Examples are southern Africa, Algeria and Senegal.
This is a key insight as countries without fair governments could be at greater risk of water scarcity. Therefore a vital aim for the future should be to increase political stability, in order to secure water supply.
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