Living with water shortages
The cities living with drought and limited water supplies.
Water scarcity is an increasing problem on every continent, according to the United Nations.
Around half the world’s population experiences severe water scarcity for at least part of the year, according to a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Global warming and population growth is expected to make the situation worse, so what is it like to run a home or a business amid water shortages?
Ruth Alexander hears from households and businesses in Karachi, Pakistan and Bogata, Colombia, and finds out lessons from Cape Town, South Africa which was said to be approaching ‘Day Zero’ when the taps would run dry in 2018. Ruth explores whether desalination – harvesting drinking water from the sea - could ever offer a sustainable solution.
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk
Produced by Rumella Dasgupta and Beatrice Pickup.
(Image: people queuing for water in Cape Town, South Africa in 2018. Credit: Bloomberg/Getty Images/91Èȱ¬)
Last on
Featured
-
.
Broadcasts
- Last Thursday 03:32GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service
- Last Thursday 12:32GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service except East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Last Thursday 17:32GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Last Thursday 21:32GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service except East and Southern Africa, Europe and the Middle East & West and Central Africa
- Last Thursday 22:32GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service Europe and the Middle East
- Sunday 09:32GMT91Èȱ¬ World Service Americas and the Caribbean, UK DAB/Freeview, East and Southern Africa, News Internet & Online only
Food Chain highlights
Tea, coffee, spices, chillies ... snack on a selection of programme highlights
Podcast
-
The Food Chain
Examining what it takes to put food on your plate