The United Nations (UN) has recently sounded the alarm. Egypt could face a shortage of fresh water by 2025. If the country reaches that point, its agricultural production will decline by 47 percent by 2060.
Egypt’s agriculture and water sectors are in poor shape. The United Nations (UN) has issued a report on the situation.
According to the document, Egypt could face a shortage of fresh water by 2025. “In 2018 the individual water share was 570 m³. By 2025 it is expected to fall to 500 m³,” says the UN. Such a situation would be disastrous for the country, as its agricultural production could decrease by 47% by 2060 due to salinisation, a direct consequence of the freshwater shortage.
Egypt gets 90% of its water from the Blue Nile. The Blue Nile is a 6,700-kilometre-long river that flows through Uganda, Ethiopia and Sudan before arriving in Egypt. Bordered by a lush green valley full of palm trees, the northward-flowing river is flooded with tourists, fishing and recreational boats. It is this influx of people that causes the pollution of the river.
In the last three years, 37 tons of cans, plastic bottles, disposable bags and other waste have been recovered from the waters and banks of the Nile in Egypt. In addition to these figures, about 150 million tonnes of industrial waste are dumped each year, according to the Egyptian state-run Environmental Affairs Agency. Climate change and the renaissance dam under construction in Ethiopia may also significantly reduce the flow of the Nile. Read more…
