Has Africa run out of water? – Prof. Alan MacDonald

Many people in Africa still lack reliable access to safe water, which affects health, livelihoods and the potential for sustainable growth. Why is this still a problem, given that in other areas, such as mobile phone coverage, Africa is seeing spectacular growth in services? Has the continent run out of water?
In this talk, Alan discusses the water available to Africa and explains that the answer is often quite literally under our feet.
Prof. Alan MacDonald leads international groundwater research at the British Geological Survey – currently about 15 projects in 25 countries.
He started his career in the 1990s working with the UK charity WaterAid helping to develop water supplies from groundwater in rural Nigeria. Since then he has worked extensively across Africa and Asia on water security issues advising governments and NGOs and carrying out academic research with partner universities.
He has written several books and many research articles on African groundwater and is currently focussing on the impact of climate change on groundwater and improving the functionality of water supplies.
Featured image credit: Prof. Alan MacDonald
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