Table 2.

Water availability and use in southern Africa for the year 2000, as compiled in the SAfMA regional scale study (Scholes & Biggs 2004). (Water availabilities below 1000 m³/person/year (bold) can lead to serious problems with food production and economic development. Lack of access to safe water is a major cause of illness and death, especially among children in rural areas, where access is usually poorer than in urban areas.)

country	renewable water resourcesa (km3 per year)	total water use (km3 per year)	water per personb (m3/person/year)	access to improved water (% tot. pop.)	access to improved sanitation (% tot. pop.)	under-five mortality (per 1000 births)
Angola	184.00	0.34	13 620	38	44	260
Botswana	14.40	0.14	8471	95	66	110
Burundi	3.60	0.23	519	78	88	190
Congo	832.00	0.04	268 387	51	—	108
Dem. Rep. Congo	1283.00	0.36	24 508	45	21	205
Equat. Guinea	26.00	0.11	55 319	44	53	153
Gabon	164.00	0.13	130 159	86	53	90
Kenya	30.20	1.58	982	57	87	122
Lesotho	3.02	0.05	1467	78	49	132
Malawi	17.28	0.11	1641	57	76	183
Mozambique	216.11	0.64	11 960	57	43	197
Namibia	17.94	0.27	10 022	77	41	67
Rwanda	5.20	0.08	656	41	8	183
South Africa	50.00	15.31	1156	86	87	71
Swaziland	4.51	0.83	4215	48	44	149
Tanzania	91.00	2.00	2642	68	90	165
Uganda	66.00	0.30	2896	52	79	124
Zambia	105.20	1.74	10 233	64	78	202
Zimbabwe	20.00	2.61	1560	83	62	123
regionb		26.87c	11 390	61	63	155

^aTotal surface and groundwater resources (corrected for partial overlap) within a country's borders, plus or minus the natural flows entering and leaving the country, as well as flows secured through treaties and agreements with other countries. Aggregation cannot be done for the region as it would result in double counting of shared water resources.

^bPopulation-weighted means.

^cWeighted by total renewable resources of each country.