{"id":34662,"date":"2026-05-16T17:29:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T15:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=34662"},"modified":"2026-05-16T17:29:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T15:29:17","slug":"igad-pushes-regional-groundwater-co-operation-to-tackle-climate-drought-crisis","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/igad-pushes-regional-groundwater-co-operation-to-tackle-climate-drought-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"IGAD pushes regional groundwater co-operation to tackle climate, drought crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has warned that groundwater is becoming increasingly critical for climate resilience and long-term stability in the Horn of Africa as the region faces worsening droughts, climate shocks and rising water demand.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The warning came during a three-day regional workshop in Kenya focused on accelerating the implementation of the Horn of Africa Groundwater for Resilience Programme.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>One of the key issues highlighted during the meeting was the need for stronger regional co-operation and better data sharing to manage underground water resources more effectively across borders.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on behalf of IGAD Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu, officials said groundwater had become strategic for food security, livelihoods and regional stability.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Participants also stressed the importance of expanding the regional Groundwater Information System to include agro-climatic and food security data to help improve irrigation planning, drought monitoring, and early warning systems.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The World Bank Group said countries were \u201clearning by doing\u201d, with lessons from implementation helping improve delivery in complex environments.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The workshop brought together IGAD member states and development partners to address challenges linked to procurement, coordination, sustainability and groundwater governance as the region works towards a more climate-resilient future.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13957,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-34662","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"IGAD has warned that groundwater is becoming increasingly critical for climate resilience","published_date":"2026-05-16 17:24:00","news_description":"IGAD has warned that groundwater is becoming increasingly critical for climate resilience","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/34662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/34662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34663,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/34662\/revisions\/34663"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=34662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}