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Multidimensional Analysis of Water Poverty in MENA Region: An Empirical Comparison with Physical Indicators

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Abstract

It is not easy to determine whether water is really scarce in the physical sense or whether it is available, but people cannot get access to it, or use it better. This paper reviews selected physical water scarcity indicators, and criticisms made against them on several grounds. Under the premise that the water scarcity issue is inherently multidimensional, a composite Water Poverty Index has been developed, to complement the traditional physical water indicators. In this paper we propose some technical refinements based on principal component analysis, in order to improve the method of calculation of the index. Using the proposed methodology, the present paper assesses the applicability of the index for the MENA region, by comparing the situation of oil-rich and water-poor countries (Gulf States) with that of lower-income yet water-rich countries (Horn of Africa states).

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Notes

  1. It is nearly the most widely used indicator of water stress in the press.

  2. The water availability is defined as the annual runoff available for human use.

  3. The 1,700 m3 threshold is calculated based on estimates of basic water requirements in the domestic, agricultural, industrial, energy and ecological sectors. Gleick (1996) and Rijsberman (2006) evaluated basic human water needs as 50 L per capita per day (excluding food production).

  4. Vörösmarty et al. (2000) developed a new index called the water reuse index which’s defined as the fraction of aggregate upstream water use relative to discharge.

  5. The green water (generally the soil moisture and water as evapotranspiration in plants) is the main source responsible for most of the food production in many regions of the world, and as a result is substantial for human well-being.

  6. The Human Development Index assesses the average accomplishments in a country in three main dimensions of human development such as longevity, knowledge and a decent standard of living. A composite index, the HDI hence comprises three indicators: life expectancy, educational attainment (adult literacy and combined primary, secondary and tertiary enrolment) and real GDP per capita.

  7. In others studies, the MENA region is defined differently and contains less of countries. In this analysis, we aimed to include as many countries in the region as possible.

  8. The Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) is a composite index that was published from 1999 to 2005; it tracked 21 elements of environmental sustainability including natural resource endowments, past and present pollution levels, environmental management efforts, contributions to protection of the global commons, and a society’s capacity to improve its environmental performance over time.

  9. The Principal components analysis (PCA) is a data reduction technique used to extract a smaller set of uncorrelated variables, called principal components, from a large set of correlated variables. Each principal component is a weighted linear combination of the original variables with mathematically determined characteristic vectors of the correlation matrix of the original data as weights; it can be argued that PCA can provide a good solution for the problem of arbitrary choice of weighting scheme.

  10. Approximately 70% of water desalination projects in the world are located in the Gulf region.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Economics Sciences and Management of Sousse, University of Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia

    Hatem Jemmali

  2. Taieb M’hiri Avenue, Public POST PO Box No. 177, 2080, Ariana, Tunisia

    Hatem Jemmali

  3. School of Environment, Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, Australia

    Caroline A. Sullivan

  4. PO Box 157, Lismore, NSW, 2480, Australia

    Caroline A. Sullivan

Authors
  1. Hatem Jemmali
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  2. Caroline A. Sullivan
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Correspondence to Hatem Jemmali.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 9.

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Jemmali, H., Sullivan, C.A. Multidimensional Analysis of Water Poverty in MENA Region: An Empirical Comparison with Physical Indicators. Soc Indic Res 115, 253–277 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0218-2

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