Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa Water, Sanitation May -June 2014 Vol.9 No.3 | Page 6

NEWS in brief

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Around Africa

Wastewater characteristics and effluent quality parameters
In many arid and semi-arid countries water is becoming an increasingly scarce resource and planners are
forced to consider any sources of water which might be used economically and effectively to promote
further development. At the same time, with population expanding at a high rate, the need for increased
food production is apparent. The potential for irrigation to raise both agricultural productivity and the living
standards of the rural poor has long been recognized. Irrigated agriculture occupies approximately 17 percent
of the world’s total arable land but the production g&