A girl at a water tap in the township Flamingo Heights
Dossier

Dossier

Water

Throughout the world, there are increasing signs that clean drinking water is becoming scarce. Our dossier takes the reader on a journey through exciting stories about water – from the glaciers of the world's highest mountain ranges in Pakistan to the underground sewers of the Albanian city of Korça.

Image-Reference

On our website, pictures taken, among others, by the following photographers/photo agencies are used:

Agentur photothek.net, Deutsche Messe Hannover, Andreas Arnold, Jörg Böthling, Dominik Butzmann, Carsten Costard, Susanne Esche, Charlie Fawell, Rendel Freude, Torsten George, Gaby Gerster, David Greedy, Peter Himsel, Barbara Högner, Frank Homann, Fred Hoogervorst, Steffen Jagenburg (BRANSCH EUROPE), Thomas Klewar, Studio Kohlmeier , Florian Kopp, Georg Lopata, Jürgen Lösel, Kirsten Milhahn, Rüdiger Nehmzow, Rolf Obertreis, Rubén Arnaldo Farina Ortiz, Holger Peters, Joachim Röttgers, Mika Schmidt, Bernhard Schurian, Jens Steingässer, Pietro Sutera, Uwe Tölle, Jan Zappner.

Fotolia.com: amandare, Yuri Arcurs, Kitch Bain, Ingo Bartussek, Sergio Donà, drizzd, Dmitry Ersler, eyewave, Zoltán Futó, Eric Gevaert, Fotolia XXV, Friedberg, goodluz, Dirk Hoffmann, imageteam, Christian Jung, Abdelhamid Kalai, Sergej Khakimullin, Vladimir Kolobov, krizz7, Kzenon, lumen-digital, marog-pixcells, Mindwalker, Miredi, mirpic, Nebuto, Tino Neitz, Christian Pedant, Franz Pfluegl, prognone, Gina Sanders, Henry Schmitt, spree berlin, SVLuma, Kheng Guan Toh, tom, Torbz, typomaniac, VRD, Joachim Wendler, Sreedhar Yedlapati.

To the article "Using knowledge to combat erosion"
Banking of agricultural land in Ethiopia

Using knowledge to combat erosion

Agricultural land in Ethiopia has to feed more and more people. To stop the degradation of their land, many farmers are actively committed to a KfW project that promotes sustainable land management and ensures water supply in their country.

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How to get the seas clean again

How does plastic waste actually get into the sea? And what can we do to get the oceans clean again? KfW has an idea – and acts! To learn more about this, watch our animated film.

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Maude Barlow and Jörg Zeuner, talking while walking alongside a wooden wall

Ways out of the water crisis

The Canadian author and activist Maude Barlow fights, on numerous fronts, for more water justice. Chief Economist of KfW Jörg Zeuner talks to the holder of the Alternative Nobel Prize about ways to implement the UN human right to water.

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Olives lying under a tree

Virtual water consumption

Whether jeans or breakfast eggs — manufacturing products and producing food consumes water. Professor Arjen Hoekstra explains how the virtual water footprint is calculated in this interview.

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Water risks

Engineer Jens Hönerhoff has developed the globally unique Water Risk Filter with World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). The tool helps companies in making investment decisions.

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View from outer space

The blue planet

Water — the universe is full of it. But only Earth transformed into a blue planet. Water is the source of life, but also a constant threat. An essay about the precious asset of water.

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Breaking taboos. Loudly.

From a taboo subject to centre stage in the event arena: the Hamburg-based company Goldeimer raises awareness about compost toilets in Germany to give more people around the world access to sanitation. For its work, Goldeimer was honoured with the KfW Entrepreneurs’ Award 2018 as the state winner for Hamburg.

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Short film about water supply for Zaatari
A woman and two children sit in an accommodation for refugees in Za'atari

Water for Zaatari

Zaatari is one of the largest refugee camps in the world in Jordan. KfW promotes the water supply in Zaatari. In our video report, you can see what the project means for the 80.000 inhabitants.

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Drought in Jordan

Water shortage in Jordan

Barely any country suffers from a lack of water as much as Jordan. Due to refugees from Syria and Iraq, the country's water requirements are increasing dramatically. KfW is now increasing its commitment in the crisis region. The project is also supported by the French AFD.

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To the article about development cooperation in Palestine
Beach Palestine

Clean water in the Gaza Strip

Gaza is an overpopulated coastal region blighted by conflicts, water shortages and poverty. KfW is promoting water supply projects and the construction of wastewater treatment plants.

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Clean water at fair prices

Frank Jacobs and his team at Cologne company mft developed an innovative water treatment plant for a Columbian village in La Guajira.

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How the Managua Lake was saved
Lake Managua

Back to life

For a long time, Lake Managua was considered the largest cesspool in the world. A new wastewater treatment plant saved the lake and turned it into a recreational area for Nicaragua.

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Land iguana, Galapagos

A paradise in need

The Galapagos Islands are famous for their unique wildlife. Yet its habitat is at risk due to the increasing number of tourists and inhabitants on the archipelago. Decentralised wastewater treatment plants are now helping to protect the fragile ecosystem of the archipelago.

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Korca in Albania

Waste water system paving the way to the future

A functioning waste water system eliminates health risks and protects the environment. This was to be achieved by the FC project for waste water disposal and treatment in the Albanian city of Korça. The evaluation attested to exceptionally high rates of success.

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Drought in Africa

When the rain fails

Many African countries are struggling with the consequences of climate change and global warming: more frequent droughts. An innovative form of drought insurance has successfully completed its test run. KfW and Agence Française de Développement support the project.

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to the article about terrace irrigation in India
Field in Buchkewadi

Terraces bear fruit

When there is no harvest, many families flee to the city. But the residents of the village of Buchkewadi in India have banded together to stop the leaching of their arable land. One of the village elders explains how they have done it.

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To the article about the new weir in Egypt
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Mammoth construction for small farmers

After years of construction, the new Assiut barrage over the Nile in Egypt was inaugurated this summer. It is a mammoth construction that is of particular benefit to small farmers in the region. The water supply for their scarce agricultural land is now secured again.

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A little boy is crossing flooded grounds in Bangladesh

Protected by schools and roads

In Bangladesh, it is possible to see how development cooperation and flood control can be perfectly combined. KfW financed the construction of protective structures along the coast and a bridge, amongst other things.

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Monitoring station on a glacier

Glaciers under surveillance

There are more than 7,000 glaciers in Pakistan. Many of them are retreating as a result of climate change – which has far-reaching consequences. Now a monitoring system is to warn people at an early stage of flooding caused by meltwater and heavy rainfall.

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To the interview about the Clean Ocean Initiative
Barbara Schnell, Eva Witt

”A major task”

Overfishing, coral bleaching, plastic waste: the condition of the oceans is deteriorating dramatically. How KfW wants to protect the oceans joining forces on a European level with the Clean Oceans Initiative and through promoting the closed-loop economy.

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Plastic waste washed upon the shore

The poison in our oceans

Plastic waste is a threat to our oceans' ecosystems as animals mistake waste for food and die in cruel circumstances. Dr Ralph Kadel, member of the Management Board of Blue Action Fund, sets out possible solutions.

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To the video
Clean Oceans Initiative Bali

Joining forces for clean oceans

In October 2018, the Clean Oceans Initiative was presented to the public at the IMF-World Bank Meetings in Bali. A video documentation with KfW's CEO Dr Günther Bräunig, President of the EIB, Werner Hoyer, and Rémy Rioux, CEO of AFD.

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To the interview
Waste collectors in Egypt

Egypt tackles its waste problem

KfW is helping the emerging economy set up a modern waste management system to reduce the amount of plastic waste that ends up in the Mediterranean. KfW experts Barbara Ölz and Sebastian Aichele on reforming the waste sector in Egypt.

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Albania waste dump

Fewer uncontrolled waste dumps

KfW is supporting controlled waste recycling and disposal in Albania with funds from the German Federal Government and EU grants. The uncontrolled waste dumps there have become a major problem for the country, neighbouring states and the Mediterranean.

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