Freshwater Resource Exploitation: New Security Challenge for Africa

Abstract

Population growth and human activities such as freshwater resource exploitations continue to have shattering effects on ecological dynamics. These effects are likely not unrelated to issues emanating from climate change and global warming. There is adequate scientific evidence that supports shifting trends in the ecosystem and specifically relating to increased water use and loss of wetlands; that poses a new security challenge for Africa especially, and which without proper intervention, could be catastrophic; resulting in food shortage and profound implications on biodiversity conservation. Many measures have been put in place intended to arrest excessive water extraction; the measures include co-management, encouragement of local community adaptation methods, and good governance. It is unclear whether these methods can catch up with the speed of depletion of the water resources. There is fear that future scarcity in water resources could compound with other issues plaguing Africa to result in conflicts.

A genome sequence for Biomphalaria pfeifferi, the major vector snail for the human-infecting parasite Schistosoma mansoni

“…The asexually reproducing schistosome larval stages live in particular and abundant species of freshwater snails like B. pfeifferi, and release multitudes of free-swimming cercariae into the water that are remarkably effective in finding and penetrating the skin of human hosts. Aquatic habitats and the vector snails living in them lie at the heart of schistosomiasis transmission and as the world's demands for shrinking aquatic resources increase, there will be profound changes in store for snails and the schistosomes they host [8][9][10].…”