Annual freshwater withdrawals, agriculture (% of total freshwater withdrawal) - Country Ranking - Africa

Definition: Annual freshwater withdrawals refer to total water withdrawals, not counting evaporation losses from storage basins. Withdrawals also include water from desalination plants in countries where they are a significant source. Withdrawals can exceed 100 percent of total renewable resources where extraction from nonrenewable aquifers or desalination plants is considerable or where there is significant water reuse. Withdrawals for agriculture are total withdrawals for irrigation and livestock production. Data are for the most recent year available for 1987-2002.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization, AQUASTAT data.

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Somalia 99.48 2017
2 Mali 97.86 2017
3 Sudan 96.19 2017
4 Madagascar 95.89 2017
5 Eritrea 94.50 2017
6 Eswatini 94.19 2017
7 Senegal 92.98 2017
8 Cabo Verde 92.59 2017
9 Ethiopia 91.84 2017
10 Mauritania 90.58 2017
11 Tanzania 89.35 2017
12 Morocco 87.78 2017
13 Niger 87.73 2017
14 Malawi 85.94 2017
15 Libya 83.19 2017
16 Zimbabwe 82.96 2017
17 Kenya 80.21 2017
18 Burundi 79.26 2017
19 Egypt 79.16 2017
20 Tunisia 77.39 2017
21 Chad 76.42 2017
22 Guinea-Bissau 75.79 2017
23 Zambia 73.28 2017
24 Ghana 73.06 2017
25 Mozambique 73.05 2017
26 Namibia 69.79 2017
27 Cameroon 67.71 2017
28 Algeria 63.76 2017
29 São Tomé and Principe 62.59 2017
30 South Africa 58.77 2017
31 Mauritius 55.84 2017
32 Rwanda 55.46 2017
33 Côte d'Ivoire 51.64 2017
34 Burkina Faso 51.43 2017
35 Guinea 51.04 2017
36 Comoros 47.00 2017
37 Nigeria 44.17 2017
38 Uganda 40.66 2017
39 The Gambia 38.58 2017
40 Botswana 35.75 2017
41 Togo 34.08 2017
42 Gabon 28.97 2017
43 Benin 25.21 2017
44 Sierra Leone 21.54 2017
45 Angola 20.78 2017
46 Djibouti 15.79 2017
47 Dem. Rep. Congo 10.52 2017
48 Lesotho 8.68 2017
49 Liberia 8.43 2017
50 Seychelles 6.57 2017
51 Equatorial Guinea 5.05 2017
52 Congo 4.36 2017
53 Central African Republic 0.55 2017

More rankings: Africa | Asia | Central America & the Caribbean | Europe | Middle East | North America | Oceania | South America | World |

Development Relevance: While some countries have an abundant supply of fresh water, others do not have as much. UN estimates that many areas of the world are already experiencing stress on water availability. Due to the accelerated pace of population growth and an increase in the amount of water a single person uses, it is expected that this situation will continue to get worse. The ability of developing countries to make more water available for domestic, agricultural, industrial and environmental uses will depend on better management of water resources and more cross-sectoral planning and integration. According to World Water Council, by 2020, water use is expected to increase by 40 percent, and 17 percent more water will be required for food production to meet the needs of the growing population. The three major factors causing increasing water demand over the past century are population growth, industrial development and the expansion of irrigated agriculture. There is now ample evidence that increased hydrologic variability and change in climate has and will continue to have a profound impact on the water sector through the hydrologic cycle, water availability, water demand, and water allocation at the global, regional, basin, and local levels. Properly managed water resources are a critical component of growth, poverty reduction and equity. The livelihoods of the poorest are critically associated with access to water services. A shortage of water in the future would be detrimental to the human population as it would affect everything from sanitation, to overall health and the production of grain. Freshwater use by continents is partly based on several socio-economic development factors, including population, physiography, and climatic characteristics. It is estimated that in the coming decades the most intensive growth of water withdrawal is expected to occur in Africa and South America (increasing by 1.5-1.6 times), while the smallest growth will take place in Europe and North America (1.2 times).

Limitations and Exceptions: A common perception is that most of the available freshwater resources are visible (on the surfaces of lakes, reservoirs and rivers). However, this visible water represents only a tiny fraction of global freshwater resources, as most of it is stored in aquifers, with the largest stocks stored in solid form in the Antarctic and in Greenland's ice cap. The data on freshwater resources are based on estimates of runoff into rivers and recharge of groundwater. These estimates are based on different sources and refer to different years, so cross-country comparisons should be made with caution. Because the data are collected intermittently, they may hide significant variations in total renewable water resources from year to year. The data also fail to distinguish between seasonal and geographic variations in water availability within countries. Data for small countries and countries in arid and semiarid zones are less reliable than those for larger countries and countries with greater rainfall. Caution should also be used in comparing data on annual freshwater withdrawals, which are subject to variations in collection and estimation methods. In addition, inflows and outflows are estimated at different times and at different levels of quality and precision, requiring caution in interpreting the data, particularly for water-short countries, notably in the Middle East and North Africa. The data are based on surveys and estimates provided by governments to the Joint Monitoring Programme of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The coverage rates are based on information from service users on actual household use rather than on information from service providers, which may include nonfunctioning systems.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: This indicator measures the pressure on the renewable water resources of a country caused by irrigation. According to Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) agriculture accounts for more than 70 percent of freshwater drawn from lakes, rivers and underground sources. Most is used for irrigation which provides about 40 percent of the world food production. Poor management has resulted in the salinization of about 20 percent of the world's irrigated land, with an additional 1.5 million ha affected annually. Water withdrawals can exceed 100 percent of total renewable resources where extraction from nonrenewable aquifers or desalination plants is considerable or where water reuse is significant. Withdrawals for agriculture and industry are total withdrawals for irrigation and livestock production and for direct industrial use (including for cooling thermoelectric plants).

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual