Complex environmental, social, economic and political structures make the Nile hard to manage. The Nile basin states have, because of these issues, collectively recognised the need to protect, manage and utilize the Nile basin in an integrated sustainable manner through a close co-operation. Action was taken and the Nile basin states formed the Nile Basin Initiative. This illustrate the opportunities created by multidisciplinary networks to solve complex environmental problems, stemming from their broad platform.
Although the West African Sub-region is well advanced in IWRM, some countries still need more support. A strategy was developed to help countries that had formally requested IWRM planning assistance. The lesson learnt is that participatory processes take much longer than non-participatory ones, nonetheless, they are still favourable since they provide a platform for discussion and a place to exchange ideas.
With the collapse of the USSR, the water sector seized to be subsidised leading to deterioration of basic infrastructure. Action was taken to partially transfer the responsibility for operation and maintenance of irrigation systems to water users. Nonetheless, this has had limited success because it has been seen as an additional cost rather than benefit. This illustrates that for this to work, the returned benefits need to be higher than the costs.
Uganda is currently experiencing rapid depletion of water resources, which, in addition to ecological challenges, is leading to conflicts in some parts of the country. The Ugandan government has taken action and formulated policies and policy regimes to regulate land use and impacts on the environment. Despite the existence of laws and regulations, this case study illustrates the discrepancy between policy formulation and the reality of implementation on the ground.
Tanzania is facing increasing pressures on its water resources due to a growing agricultural sector and the effects of climate change. In order to ensure environmental and economic sustainability in the face of water scarcity the local communities of Kiroka village, Morogoro, conceived a project to build capacity for climate adaptation through sustainable land and water management. The participatory approach coupled with capacity building and holistic problem solving that also addresses livelihood issues has proven to be an effective method of implementing an IWRM plan that is sustainable and can be readily subscribed to.
GWP Hungary is campaigning for World Water Forum 6 Local Authorities’ Process which will highlight their major role in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
Get involved in Danube Day, help secure a positive future for the Danube and win great prizes!
Dalibor Urban and Jakub Vávra from Elementary Art School in Jedovnice (Czech Republic) were crowned the 2012 International Art Masters with their artwork Rivers 2021!