In Nigeria alone, UNICEF reports that over 70 million people do not have access to safe drinking water.
The water crisis is a business risk extraordinaire, water scarcity and pollution impacts the capacity of individuals and whole communities to create and subscribe to value.
In response to this crisis business must join hands with other sectors to ensure water is managed sustainably and as a shared and public resource.
This picturesque city of 4 million people is to become the first major modern city to completely run dry.
How can we better manage water?
What is business doing?
Some industries have developed internal targets to reduce water use in production e.g. Nigerian Breweries by 25% and Guinness by 50%.
Corporate social responsibility Awareness campaigns and water provision is communities are other ways business can address the water crisis.
Some of these businesses also have internal policies targeted at reducing water consumption in their production processes so as to reduce pressure on water due to urbanization and industrialization.The next sequent step of engagement is increasing collaboration between businesses, communities, civil society actors and government to ensure that water solutions are sufficiently joined-up and sustainable.
There is also room for funding for innovation and technology in water management,to address the gap in service delivery and improve access to safe water.