Eswatini Environment - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

limited supplies of potable water; wildlife populations being depleted because of excessive hunting; population growth, deforestation, and overgrazing lead to soil erosion and soil degradation

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 16.26 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 1.16 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 1.9 megatons (2020 est.)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 41.3 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

industrial: 20.7 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 1.006 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

4.51 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Climate

varies from tropical to near temperate

Land use

agricultural land: 68.3% (2018 est.)

arable land: 9.8% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.8% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 57.7% (2018 est.)

forest: 31.7% (2018 est.)

other: 0% (2018 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

forest revenues: 2.25% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

coal revenues: 0.1% of GDP (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 24.4% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 2.42% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: intermediate (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: malaria

water contact diseases: schistosomiasis

Food insecurity

severe localized food insecurity: due to the reduction in income-generating activities - the economy is only expected to recover moderately in 2021, following the pandemic-driven contraction in 2020, and households will continue to face food access constraints; an estimated 209,000 people are projected to be food insecure in the April−September 2021 period, down from 347,000 in the January−March 2021 period (2021)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 218,199 tons (2016 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Eswatini on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Eswatini 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Eswatini 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.