1.1.2.WATER USE Water withdrawals were estimated to be 169 million m3 in 2002. The amount of water used in agriculture is 76 million m3 (45 per cent), comprising 46 million m3 for irrigation and 30 million m3 for livestock. Households consume 52 per cent and the mining industry 3 per cent.

1.2.WATER QUALITY, ECOSYSTEMS AND HUMAN HEALTH Surface waters have variable mineral content. With environmental degradation, they are now subject to constant pollution and contamination especially from agriculture (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.). Groundwater is generally of good quality especially regarding its bacteriological characteristics. According to UNEP (2010), Togo struggles to provide adequate sanitation facilities to its population. In 2008, only 12 per cent of the nation’s population had access to improved sanitation facilities, with a mere 3 per cent in rural areas, where 58 per cent of the population lives. Open defecation is practised by an estimated 3.55 million people in the country – over half the population. Given a current population of 6.7 million and an annual population growth rate of 2.48 per cent, the number of people living without access to essential services such as sanitation facilities is likely to grow faster than the infrastructure needed to service them. Low sanitation access brings a host of negative health impacts. Torpid wastewater is a breeding ground for many communicable diseases. In 2008, 367 people died from cholera, and two years earlier an outbreak killed 1,159. Children are particularly vulnerable – in 2009, Togo’s child mortality rate was 79 per 1000 births. Furthermore, the percentage of years of life lost attributable to communicable diseases in 2002 was 79 per cent in Togo, compared to 59 per cent for the rest of Africa. These high rates of communicable diseases are strongly linked to the nation’s low access to sanitation facilities (UNEP, 2010).

(Water Risk Filter)