Groundwater resilience to climate change in Africa

In Africa, groundwater is the major source of drinking water and its use for irrigation is forecast to increase substantially to combat growing food insecurity. Climate change along with rapid population growth are likely to impact all water resources, but the response of groundwater will be slower than that of surface water providing a potential buffer to help support adaptation. Here an interdisciplinary team from the UK and Africa present the results of a DFID funded research project to provide the first quantitative assessment of continental groundwater resources for Africa and to examine how resilient they are to climate change.