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 ...