From scarcity to security: water as a potential factor for conflict and cooperation in Southern Africa

bibliographic database
Line

Periodical article

Title:	From scarcity to security: water as a potential factor for conflict and cooperation in Southern Africa
Author:	Kaniaru, Wanjiku
Year:	2015
Periodical:	South African Journal of International Affairs (ISSN 1938-0275)
Volume:	22
Issue:	3
Pages:	381-396
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Southern Africa
Subjects:	water water resources international relations international law
External link:	https://doi.org/10.1080/10220461.2015.1046477
Abstract:	Water scarcity has emerged as a compelling non-military security issue that justifies an expanded human security agenda. This article argues that a buttressed notion of mutual interdependence is critical to the prospects of enhanced hydropolitical cooperation over shared water resources in Southern Africa. The link between water and politics is inextricable and the impending water scarcity in the region, which can easily engender a whole host of economic and environmental insecurities, has the potential to lead to escalating tensions; it can also be a catalyst for cooperation. It is therefore imperative that basin-wide regimes redressing imbalances in the institutional and legal framework governing water rights and allocation be established at the regional level in order to promote equity in the utilisation of shared water resources, as envisaged in the Revised Southern Africa Development Community Water Protocol. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]