8911 Investment in Water Harvesting
For developing countries alone, an estimated $103 billion per year is needed to
finance water, sanitation and wastewater treatment (Yepes 2008 ). Africa
Infrastructure Country Diagnostic estimated that to close the infrastructure gap in
water supply and sanitation and meet the corresponding millennium development
goal targets in Africa within 10 years, an annual investment of approximately $22
billion, equal to 2.58 percent of the gross domestic product, is required. Nearly $15
billion of this is needed for capital expenditure with the remaining $7 billion for
operational expenditure. The study estimates that it will take $3.4 billion per year to
attain the region’s goal of doubling the amount of land under irrigation, with 85
percent of the total going to capital works (Foster and Briceño-Garmendia 2010 ).
Globally, a modest investment is made in water. Countries are expected to share
about 75 % of the total investment in the water sector. International financial institu-
tions and donors roughly share 25 % of the investment. Asian Development Bank’s
(ADB’s) water investment from 2006–2010 was $10 billion and planned to invest
$2–2.5 billion annually from 2011–2020 in the Asia and Pacific region (ADB 2011 ).
The World Bank Group committed more than US$100 billion in 2009 to help coun-
tries who had cut spending in services during previous crises to maintain and expand
infrastructure (Rodriguez et al. 2012 ). They noted that official development assis-
tance for water and sanitation sharply increased from an average annual commit-
ment of $3.3 billion in 2002–2003 to $8.3 billion in 2009–2010. The OECD ( 2012 )
estimates that by 2025, water will make up the lion’s share of global infrastructure
investment. For the OECD countries and Russia, China, India and Brazil, water
spending will top $1 trillion in 2025, nearly triple the amount needed.
A major chunk of the investment in the water sector has been allocated to water
infrastructure and urban water supply and sanitation. Despite the small investment
requirement, WH has not been a priority investment area. In rural areas, the invest-
ment varies from $500–$800 for rooftop water harvesting for domestic use, $200–
$500 for smallholders farmers and around $20,000 for a community tank (GTZ
2010 ). Being (i) a small investment, (ii) well-known technology, with (iii) simple
governance and a high probability of sustainability, WH has potential for public–
private partnerships. Microfinance Institutes in Nepal provided small credits ($100–
$200) to diverse groups and individuals that can finance 15–20 % of the total costs
for installation of rainwater harvesting (RAIN Foundation 2014 ). Nepali experi-
ences show that farmers could repay their loan within three years due to the increased
income and savings. Other financing modalities for WH can be explored to meet
area- and community-specific requirements.
In an area with 155 mm average annual rainfall in northwest Egypt, World-Bank-
financed water harvesting developed 8300 rainwater cisterns with a total storage
capacity of 1.25 million cubic meters of freshwater to improve water and sanitation
of 56,000 poor people and their livestock. The Matrouh Resource Management
Project (1997–2003), at a total cost of $27 million ($10 million contribution by
beneficiaries and $17 million loan), supported water harvesting for olive and fig
Water Harvesting in Dry Environments