Drought in Africa: causes, consequences and lasting solutions

In Africa, drought is not an event: it is a constant pressure. It doesn't make the headlines every year, yet it shapes the lives of tens of millions of people. Understanding how it works helps explain why some solutions succeed and others don't.

What exactly is drought?

Drought is often mistaken for a simple lack of rain. In reality, drought is an imbalance: the amount of water available falls persistently short of what an area needs.

There are three forms to distinguish, and they often follow one another.

1. Meteorological drought: rainfall becomes insufficient over a given period. This is the starting point.

2. Agricultural drought: the soil no longer holds enough moisture for crops. Harvests fall and livestock lose their pasture.

3. Hydrological drought: rivers, ponds and shallow groundwater drop or dry up. This is the most serious, because it directly affects drinking water.

This distinction is key to understanding the solutions. A village can survive a poor rainy season if it has access to deep groundwater. It cannot survive if its only water point is a pond that is evaporating.

The scale of the problem in 2026

Les chiffres disent l'échelle du problème. Selon un rapport de l'ONU, au moins 1,5 milliard de personnes ont été directement touchées par la sécheresse depuis le début du XXIe siècle, pour un coût économique estimé à environ 124 milliards de dollars. L'ONU va jusqu'à décrire la sécheresse comme la prochaine pandémie si rien n'est fait.

In Africa, two regions bear most of the pressure.

The Sahel and West Africa. According to the West Africa and Sahel Regional Climate Centre, more than 54.8 million people face acute food and nutrition insecurity over the June–August 2026 period, including more than 3 million in an emergency situation. More broadly, the UN estimated at the end of 2025 that more than 42 million people would need assistance in 2026 in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, the Central African Republic, the DRC and Chad.

The Horn of Africa. Access to water there remains very poor. According to the WHO and UNICEF JMP 2025 report, 37% of Ethiopia's population relies on unimproved water, and 22% of Somalis, around 4.2 million people, rely on unsafe water.

The 4 causes of drought in Africa

Drought in Africa has no single cause: four factors combine and make each other worse.

1. Climate change. This is the main driver. Rising temperatures disrupt rainfall patterns: rainy seasons are becoming shorter, later or more violent. Rain that falls too hard in too short a time runs off instead of soaking into the groundwater. The result: sometimes just as much rain falls, but the water is no longer stored.

2. Soil degradation. Deforestation, overgrazing and intensive farming destroy the plant cover that holds in moisture. Bare soil heats up, hardens and lets water slip away. It is a self-reinforcing cycle: less vegetation, less moisture, and so even less vegetation.

3. Population growth. Africa's population has more than doubled since the 1990s. Demand for water for drinking, farming and livestock inevitably rises, while the resource itself does not keep pace.

4. Lack of infrastructure. This is the most often overlooked factor, and the most fixable. Without deep boreholes, storage capacity or networks, an area depends entirely on that year's rain. It has no reserves to cushion a shock.

This last cause is crucial, because it is the only one a donor can act on directly and immediately.

Why shallow wells are not enough

Here is the key technical point, the one that separates a lasting solution from a sticking plaster.

A traditional shallow well draws on surface water and rainwater seeping into the ground. It works very well in the wet season. But when drought sets in, the water level drops and then the well dries up, just when the village needs it most.

A deep borehole, by contrast, reaches groundwater that does not depend on that year's rain. It keeps working in the dry season and delivers a steady flow. That is the difference between a seasonal water point and a permanent one.

That is why, where drought keeps returning, a borehole is not a luxury: it is the only answer that holds up over time. Our article Funding a borehole: how does it differ from a well? explains this technical distinction in detail.

The 4 levers of a lasting response

The solutions exist and work together. Here are the four that are widely agreed on in the field.

1. Reach water deep underground. Boreholes tap groundwater that is independent of seasonal rains. This is the foundation of any water resilience.

2. Restore soils and replant trees. Planting trees slows erosion, holds in moisture and breaks the vicious circle of degradation. LIFE's Sapousse programme lets you plant a tree for €2, a perfect complement to a well.

3. Develop adapted farming. Drought-resistant crops, water-saving irrigation, water conservation techniques: the water available must be used wisely.

4. Put communities in charge. A water facility without a village management committee breaks down. Lasting results depend on local training, maintenance and a shared fund for repairs.

These four levers only work together: a borehole without local management stops working, and tree planting without water doesn't take root.

How to take practical action

LIFE's water programme follows this resilience approach. A village well, dug to around 20 metres and fitted with a mechanical or electric pump, serves around 500 people and works regardless of how the rainy season turns out.

The specifications cover 7 stages: a geological survey to locate the groundwater, drilling, casing, pump, concrete well surround, laboratory testing of water quality, and training of the village management committee. Funding costs €2,650 in Africa, or around €901 after 66% French tax relief.

For a detailed budget, our article How much does a well in Africa cost? breaks down each item. For how the work unfolds, our article Building a well in Africa: stages, costs and real impact follows every phase. And to place drought within the global water crisis, our article The global water crisis gives the full picture.