The Problem Of Djibouti

Djibouti’s Water Problems Djibouti is a third world country that is located on the border of Africa along the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea, otherwise known as the horn of Africa and it is along the route of major shipping lanes for a large number of countries. The country consists of regions that have major cities within them. The country’s geography is made up of mostly desert, along with a smaller amount of grasslands along the coast. The climate is typically considered hot to most people, since the average is around 90 degrees in fahrenheit or 34 degrees celsius because the country is so close to the equator. Djibouti has approximately 712,000 people living in the country, about 25,000 rarely ever get the amount of clean usable water that they
There are 45 villages that are scattered throughout rural Djibouti. The country has very few wells for appropriate water dispersion, and the wells are still used by lowering a bucket and bringing them back up. “In 2006, a survey showed that out of 876 wells providing non-saline water in Djibouti only 15 percent were equipped with a protective concrete wall to prevent infiltration.” (wfp, p.17) There is too little of usable water wells in Djibouti for everyone to be able to get enough water to drink, bathe, and use for other purposes. Non-saline is unable to drink, do to the fact that it is salt water. The walls are also are big issue because they prevent water from getting dirty and often from getting bacteria. “Most of the available water supply comes primarily from groundwater resources, which are difficult to access and of poor quality. An estimated nearly 50 percent of people in rural areas do not have access to a protected source of drinking water.” (UNICEF, 7) In the villages that are not developed enough to have a water system women who live in the village often have to walk over 8 miles to a well or to a reservoir just to get enough drinking water for the day and the well may not have enough water for everyone who goes to it. “The area shown (Djibouti) water scarcity is classified as medium according to the information that is currently available to this tool. This means that there is up to a 20% chance droughts will occur in the coming 10 years.” (thinkhazard, p.1) Another issue regarding the village’s in Djibouti is that the country is susceptible to droughts. The country has a climate that experiences extreme heat majority of the year, which can be a danger to the people due to the possibility of dehydration and other heat related health problems. Problems like this lead to more than just dehydration, it