n Conflict Trends - Water and conflict in an African context

Abstract

The word rival that is in common use in the English language is derived from the Latin word rivus, which literally means to share a river. The whole notion of rivalry is thus intimately linked with the idea of sharing a common source of water. Given the fact that one of the unique aspects of Africa is related to the fact that it has a large number of shared or international river basins - a quirk of colonial history where borders were arbitrarily drawn - an understanding of water and its potential for conflict becomes strategically significant.