Water resource management under a changing climate in Angola's coastal settlements

40 Pages·2017·4.48 MB·English

Water resource
management under
a changing climate
in Angola’s coastal
settlements
Allan Cain
Working Paper Urban environments
Keywords:
October 2017
Angola, slum upgrading, water
governance, climate adaptation,
risk mapping, humanitarian crises
About the author Acknowledgements
Allan Cain, Development Workshop, Angola. Allan is a The current monograph is based on Development Workshop’s
specialist in project planning, urban development, low-cost research supported by the International Development Research
housing and settlements upgrading. His work includes Centre (IDRC) Climate Change and Water Programme. This
community construction, school planning, local government paper was prepared as part of Development Workshop’s
participation and the strengthening civil society institutions. project Water Resource Management under Changing Climate
[email protected] in Angola’s Coastal Settlements with support from IDRC,
Nairobi. I would also like to thank Sebastiao Arsenio, Mathieu
Produced by IIED’s Human Settlements Cain, Cesar Capitao, Joao Domingos, Massamba Dominique,
Kamal D’Nigel, Anna Julante, John Mendelsohn, Paul Robson
Group and Jose Tiago for their invaluable inputs. Information was
co-produced with almost 40 community groups who are
The Human Settlements Group works to reduce poverty and
members of the Luanda Urban Poverty Network (informally
improve health and housing conditions in the urban centres of
associated with the Slum/Shack Dwellers International (SDI)
Africa, Asia and Latin America. It seeks to combine this with
network. Sincere thanks also go to Edith Ofwona, Simon Carter,
promoting good governance and more ecologically sustainable
Charlotte MacAlister and Mark Redwood of IDRC; Giza Gaspar-
patterns of urban development and rural-urban linkages.
Martins and Luis Constantino of the Ministry of Environment’s
Climate Change Department; the Climate System Analysis
Partner organisations Group (CSAG), University of Cape Town; and the Rockefeller
Foundation, which provided me with a Bellagio Fellowship in
Development Workshop (DW) is a non-profit organisation November 2016 to prepare this working paper.
working on research and project development in the fields of
human settlements, water, sanitation and policy advocacy. Over
more than three decades, DW has built a strong institutional
partnership with Angolan government ministries such as
environment, urbanisation and local government through
practical projects and policy advocacy. Capacity building of
local civil society, universities and communities is key to DW’s
way of working. DW has been a partner of the International
Development Research Centre (IDRC) in researching climate
change and urban water issues. See www.dw.angonet.org
Published by IIED, October 2017
Cain, A (2017) Water resource management under a changing
climate in Angola’s coastal settlements. IIED working paper,
IIED, London.
http://pubs.iied.org/10833IIED
ISBN: 978-1-78431-492-7
Printed on recycled paper with vegetable-based inks.
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Angola’s civil war caused a massive population
movement from rural conflict areas to low-lying
coastal zones between 1975 and 2002. More
than half of Angola’s 27 million people now live in
urban coastal settlements, floodplains and steep
ravines vulnerable to climate extremes. Climate-
related risks are worsening and it is important to
understand and prepare for them. Angola’s coastal
areas are experiencing increasingly variable rainfall
and pressure on water supplies and markets.
But a dearth of relevant data has made it difficult
to assess these risks. This paper demonstrates
innovative methods in filling the information gap
and how changes were introduced in how water is
governed in four Angolan coastal cities.
Contents
List of figures and tables 4 4 Variability, flooding and water markets 20
4.1 Settlement patterns and environmental burdens 22
Acronyms 5
4.2 W ater markets and community water
management 27
Summary 6
5 Towards improved water governance and
1 Water, climate and conflict-linked problems
participatory planning 30
in coastal settlements 7
5.1 Municipal adaptation planning 31
5.2 Improvements in water governance 33
2 Filling the war-year gaps – what we don’t know 12
6 Conclusions 37
3 Innovation, co-production and finding the
missing data 13
References 38
3.1 Oral history research 16
3.2 Media monitoring 17
3.3 Mapping of environmental burdens 18
3.4 Participatory enumeration with mobile
technologies 19
3.5 Water market monitoring 19
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Water resource management under a changing climate in angola’s coastal settlements
List of figures and
tables
Figure 1. Map showing Luanda’s rapid peri-urban growth over 35 years 8
Figure 2. Map of Angola’s water resource and most important coastal settlements 9
Figure 3. Growth and decline of numbers of meteorological stations during war and peace 14
Figure 4. Map of meteorological stations studied offering historical data 16
Figure 5. Map of climatic events captured in the media and databased (2009–2016) 17
Figure 6. M ap of population densities in Luanda compiled by remote sensing and participatory mapping
enumerations 18
Figure 7. Map showing Angola’s coefficient of variation of annual rainfall 21
Figure 8. Annual population growth rate from 1950 to 2015, Luanda 22
Figure 9. Malaria map of Luanda showing critical high-density hotspots 23
Figure 10. Environmental risk map for Luanda 25
Figure 11. Map showing the location of different settlement types in Luanda 26
Figure 12. Map of water prices for one 20-litre bucket in metropolitan Luanda, 2014 27
Figure 13. Water resource delivery chain in Luanda delivers US$250 million per year to informal operators 29
Figure 14. Poster showing participatory mapping in Luanda 31
Figure 15. Urban vulnerability mapping plans 32
Figure 16. Diagram of the Ver Água mobile phobe-based system for monitoring standposts 36
Table 1. Percentage of populations living in environmental risk areas in Luanda 26
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Acronyms
CEDOC Development Workshop’s Documentation Centre
CSAG Climate System Analysis Group, University of Cape Town
CSO Civil society organisation
DW Development Workshop Angola
EPAL Luanda Provincial Water Company
GIS Geographic information system
GPS Global Positioning System
GSMA Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) Association
ICTs Information and communications technologies
IDRC International Development Research Centre
INAMET National Meteorology and Geophysics Institute of Angola
ITCZ Intertropical convergence zone
MINEA Ministry of Water and Energy, Angola
MoGeCA Community water management model
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Water resource management under a changing climate in angola’s coastal settlements
Summary
Angola’s civil war caused a massive movement of This paper addresses climate risks and inadequate
more than 4 million people from rural conflict areas to access to quality water faced by informal settlements in
settlements in places vulnerable to climate extremes: four Angolan coastal cities: Luanda, Cabinda, Benguela
low-lying coastal zones, floodplains and steep ravines. and Lobito. Through this paper Development Workshop
By 2016, more than half of Angola’s 27 million people (DW) has assessed the impact of climate variability on
were living in urban settlements along the Atlantic water markets, people and infrastructure, and proposes
coast. Now, in the post-war period, public demands changes to how water is governed. In four urban
for safe and healthy cities and affordable water and municipalities, participatory methods were developed
sanitation services are increasingly being voiced. In that have begun to contribute to improved water access.
this context, the Angolan government is attempting to Changes in the management of public water points
meet the challenges of overpopulated, unstructured promoted by DW has widened access to clean water
and unhealthy cities by implementing an ambitious and reduced water costs by 90 per cent (from US$0.50
programme of regional and urban planning. to US$0.05 per bucket). The Angolan government has
replicated the community management model across
However, planning for poverty reduction and
the country, ensuring that ongoing maintenance is
environmental adaptation requires real data. Budgeting
financed by locally elected committees who collect fees
for water and sanitation infrastructure, for example,
for services and promote hygiene and basic sanitation.
is most adapted to real needs when planned with
community co-participation, especially in the initial Systematic data collection has been supported and
collection of data, the planning of actions, the validation the environmental risks have been mapped and now
of results and eventually the monitoring of impacts. feed into local municipal planning processes. Research
The research findings hence provide essential capacity is being strengthened to better inform climate
information, particularly in the coastal region where most risk analysis and contribute to the development of
Angolans live. Angolan water policy.
Climate-related risks to the population are likely to
worsen in the future and it is important to understand
and prepare for them. Unfortunately, a dearth of relevant
data has made it difficult to assess these risks. The
limited climate data that are available show that Angola’s
coastal areas are experiencing low annual rainfall, which
is increasing pressure on water supplies.
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1
Water, climate and
conflict-linked
problems in coastal
settlements
Angola emerged 15 years ago from what was one of The ‘gap’ of more than thirty years of meteorological
Africa’s longest protracted conflicts. The independence information coincides with the recent period of
war that began in 1961 was followed by a civil war accelerated climate change.
that lasted from independence in 1975 and ended
The coastal areas of Angola, where urban populations
only in 2002. Four decades of war caused a massive
are growing most rapidly, experience lower rainfall than
demographic shift of populations from rural conflict
inland areas and are subject to sudden storms and
areas to the relatively safer coastal urban settlements,
high annual variation. In urban coastal areas, poorer
resulting in a rapid urbanisation of the country (see
communities of formerly war-displaced communities
Figure 1). Angola, over this period, was the most rapidly
have purchased and settled on peripheral land beyond
urbanising country in the southern African region. The
the water and sanitation network that is often at risk
capital Luanda with a growth rate averaging at 7 per
from flooding and erosion. These are the only affordable
cent is the fastest growing city in Africa (Cain 2012). Its
locations that are still near to economic opportunities.
present population is more than 7 million and it could be
a megacity of over 10 million people before the end of There has been serious flooding in Angolan cities in
the decade. recent years. In 2006, 3,000 families lost their homes
in Luanda due to flooding and a subsequent cholera
The war resulted in the destruction of infrastructure and
epidemic resulted in 76,959 cases and 3,006 deaths
the breakdown of institutions of all kinds during these
(UNICEF 2007). In 2015, flooding in the coastal city of
four decades. The ability of government to maintain an
Lobito led to 90 deaths and the displacement of over
administrative presence and collect data of all kinds
300 families. There is a lack of urban land-use and
was also negatively affected. The last complete national
disaster-planning capacity to deal with these issues,
meteorological statistics were published in 1974. The
though institutions have been created in the last five
colonial government had built up an extensive network
years as part of the country’s decentralisation strategy.
of over 500 meteorological stations across the country.
Limited information was previously available on the
Except for a few urban stations like Luanda, most
vulnerability of these coastal cities, on rainfall variability
ceased reporting or were abandoned the following year.
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Water resource management under a changing climate in angola’s coastal settlements
Figure 1. Map showing Luanda’s rapid peri-urban growth over 35 years
Map developed by Mathieu Cain
and trends, on river flows and on areas at risk. Similarly, changing, especially due to population movements and
demographic and socioeconomic information was need to adapt to increasing risk (McGranahan et al.
limited in the post-war years.1 2007: 17).
Economic activity and urban development in coastal More than half of all Angolans and almost two-thirds of
locations often contribute to increasing environmental the country’s urban population2 now live in the coastal
pressures that lead to flooding. Low-income provinces. The growing coastal urban settlements
settlements, and poor families within all settlements, of Angola experience lower (though variable) rainfall
tend to be the most vulnerable. Affluent groups are in a than inland areas. However, urban areas of Angola
better position to take protective measures and to adapt have experienced flooding in recent years, such as
or escape when flooding does occur (McGranahan Namibe in early 2001, Luanda in early 2008, Ondjiva in
et al. 2007: 19). The poorest residents of the cities various years since 2002, and Lobito and Benguela in
of low-income countries like Angola are often forced 2015. These floods have been due to localised heavy
(implicitly or explicitly) to settle in floodplains or other rain3 or high flows in rivers coming from inland areas.
hazard-prone locations, as they cannot afford more The succession of floods may be attributable to a
suitable alternatives (Hardoy et al. 2001). combination of factors including increasing variability
due to climate change, environmental changes induced
Historically, populations have preferred to live within
by settlement in vulnerable zones, and the removal
100 kilometres of coasts and near major rivers (Small
of natural vegetation in upstream river basins. Many
and Nicholls 2003), and often in cities located in
of Angola’s major coastal cities are located at the
low-lying areas near the mouths of major rivers, which
mouths of river basins, which places these settlements
served as conduits for commerce between interior
in particularly high-risk sites. There is consequently a
agricultural and industrial regions and the rest of the
concentration of people with limited coping abilities in
world. As it happens, these locations place global
these low-lying areas.
cities at greater risk from current and projected climate
hazards such as cyclones, high winds, flooding, coastal The environmental situation in Angola’s peri-urban
erosion and sea-level rise (De Sherbinin et al. 2007: districts progressively deteriorated during the decades
39). Populations settling in low-elevation coastal of conflict. These peri-urban areas can be considered
areas are at risk from many of these hazards induced to be in a chronic public health crisis. Rural populations
by climate change. These coastal settlements are which migrated to Luanda in search of a safe-haven
1 Angola’s first post-independence census was published only in 2016 based on data collected in 2014. The previous census dated back to 1973.
2 Angola’s May 2014 census statistics show that 51 per cent of Angola’s population of 25,789,024 lived in the coastal provinces of Cabinda, Zaire, Bengo,
Luanda, Cuanza Sul, Benguela and Namibe – 78 per cent lived in urban areas. By 2016 therefore it is estimated that over 11 million people live in cities in these
coastal provinces.
3 There are fewer tropical storms or typhoons in comparison with those experienced in, for example, Mozambique.
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Figure 2. Map of Angola’s water resource and most important coastal settlements
Province capitol
Province
Catchment
Fault lines
Marine sandstones, siltstones, shales
Sandstones, mudstones, siltstones
Basement granites and gneisses of shield areas
Dolomites, quartzites, shales, sandstones
Metasediments, igneous complexes, volcanic
Sands
Sands, silts, clays including lake beds
Lavas and associated igneous rocks
The colours illustrate the different watershed basins that drain into the coast. The coastal cities are all located at the mouths of
these river systems, that contribute to the risk of flooding during the rainy season.
did not settle in an organised way and in some cases groundwater and uncollected refuse is usually dumped
occupied environmentally risky sites such as those in valleys or drainage channels.
along riverbanks or drainage courses susceptible to
Local and river flooding, erosion, inundations from
severe erosion.
sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion are all common
It is poorer families who are most vulnerable risks in these urban coastal areas. An important effect
(Development Workshop 2011a). In Luanda, they have of the prolonged conflict in Angola is poor urban
settled in the more environmentally risky parts of the land-use planning. There is a need for technical and
city. The majority of Angolan slum residents bought policy innovation to deal with these risks, either from
their land on the informal market and can demonstrate better planning, water supply management, improved
declarations of purchase or sale contracts. Due to flood defences or accommodation measures (such as
rapidly rising property values the poor have relocated early-warning and evacuation plans) to enable people
into areas of increasingly higher risk out of economic to adapt to living in these settlements. This requires
necessity. This is sometimes due to forcible removal information about areas that may be affected, where
by government authorities or voluntary relocation after flooding has occurred and when it may be expected to
buy-outs from private real-estate developers. The new occur in the future and the potential impact on access
settlement areas occupied by the poor are almost to basic services. This information is rarely available
always without piped water services. The lack of to Angolan local government administrations or to
formal sanitation means that raw sewage pollutes the communities at risk.
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Water resource management under a changing climate in angola’s coastal settlements
Many migrating rural populations in Angola settled in risky sites, such as this informal coastal settlement located in ravines in Lobito
© Development Workshop
There are indications that understanding climate change growth of coastal cities in areas with increasingly
and planning for adaptation are now being taken more variable rainfall implies constraints on water supply for
seriously in Angola, recognising the country’s high levels these settlements.
of vulnerability. As well as completing its First National
Potentially, Angola can exploit 140 billion m3 of
Communication (GOA 2012) and National Adaptation
surface (river) water and 72 billion m3 of sustainable
Programmes of Action (NAPA), Angola has taken steps
groundwater (Figure 2). In the years following the end
to strengthen capacity in this area. There is a critical
of the civil war the country has committed itself to
need in Angola to improve urban land-use and disaster
investing in building infrastructure to deliver water to
planning and to build local capacity to deal with the
all its citizens. Angola has enjoyed economic growth
management of basic services in these vulnerable areas
during the years since the end of the conflict. In theory,
where the majority of people live.
Angola has a permanent guarantee of drinking water
The limited metrological data available suggests that for its citizens. Today, however, almost half of Angola’s
the coast of Angola has shown an increased variability population remains without access to a sufficient
in climate (especially rainfall) from one year to the supply of affordable potable water and adequate
next. This variability extends some way inland. Factors sanitation facilities.
affecting this variability include the influence of the
Urban coastal settlements in Angola are still partly
Benguela current and position of the intertropical
supplied through informal water markets, in which the
convergence zone (ITCZ). Warm events in the Benguela
poor pay high prices for inadequate quantities of low-
current (years with above-average temperatures in the
quality water. The functioning of these water markets
sea off northern Namibia and southern Angola) can lead
was incompletely understood, as were the constraints
to higher rainfall along the coast and sometimes inland
on management and how these could be overcome.
(Fossil Park undated). Southwest Angola is close to an
With support from the International Development
extremity of the ITCZ and rainfall is highly sensitive to
Research Centre (IDRC), Development Workshop set
the position of the ITCZ between November and April
out to address these challenges.
in any particular year. Qualitative indicators from oral
histories and media archives suggest that drought and In 2007, the Angolan presidential Water for All
flooding events have increased during recent years. programme was launched to achieve, by 2012, an
Most models of the region project that climate change improved source of drinking water for 80 per cent
will mean more variable climates (Fidel and O’Toole of peri-urban and rural populations and guarantee a
2007). It is believed that global climate change will minimum daily per capita consumption of at least 40
affect various parameters of the Benguela current. litres of water. The programme intended to construct
new water systems from groundwater as well as surface
Little was known about the impact of environmental
sources (rivers or lakes). The planned infrastructure
factors on urban areas in Angola, and information
would include pumping, treatment and distribution
on this had not been gathered in one place. The
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