Nature & Faune: Managing Africa's Water Resources
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
FAO REGIONALFAO RegionalOFFICE OfficeFOR for AFRICAAfrica Nature & Faune Enhancing natural resources management for food security in Africa Volume 27, Issue 1 Managing Africa’s water resources: integrating sustainable use of land, forests and fisheries Editor: Foday Bojang Deputy Editor: Ada Ndeso-Atanga FAO Regional Office for Africa [email protected] http://www.fao.org/africa/publications/nature-and-faune-magazine/ FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Accra, Ghana 2012 Nature & Faune, Volume 27, Issue 1 FAO REGIONALFAO RegionalOFFICE OfficeFOR for AFRICAAfrica BOARD OF REVIEWERS Christel Palmberg-Lerche Forest geneticist Rome, Italy Douglas Williamson Wildlife specialist England, United Kingdom Fred Kafeero Natural Resources specialist Rome, Italy Jeffrey Sayer Ecologist/expert in political and economic context of natural resources conservation Cairns, N. Queensland, Australia August Temu Agroforestry adviser and leader in management of partnerships Nairobi, Kenya Mafa Chipeta Food Security adviser Limbe, Malawi Kay Muir-Leresche Policy economist/specialist in agricultural and natural resource economics Rooiels Cape, South Africa El Hadji M. Sène, Forest Resources Management & Dry Zone Forestry specialist Dakar, Senegal Jean Prosper Koyo Renewable Natural Resources adviser Pointe Noire, Republic of Congo Sébastien Le Bel Wildlife specialist and scientist Montpellier, France Advisers: Atse Yapi, Christopher Nugent, Fernando Salinas, René Czudek The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. All rights reserved. Reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product for educational or other non-commercial purposes are authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of material in this information product for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without written permission of the copyright holders. Applications for such permission should be addressed to the Chief, Electronic Publishing Policy and Support Branch, Communication Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy or by e-mail to [email protected]. ©FAO 2012 Nature & Faune, Volume 27, Issue 1 FAO REGIONALFAO RegionalOFFICE OfficeFOR for AFRICAAfrica Contents Message to Readers 1 Maria Helena Semedo Editorial Bai-Mass Taal 3 Announcement 5 News 9 Establishment of 21st March as the International Day of Forests Foday Bojang 9 Special Feature 10 Transboundary approaches to river basin management – the Okavango case study Ebenizario Chonguica 10 Opportunities for expanding the benefits from cooperative transboundary water governance in the Nile Basin: benefits beyond physical water quantities Everisto Mapedza and Tesfaye Tafesse 14 Integrated water resources management for sustainable use: the case of the Volta Basin in West Africa Charles A. Biney 19 Opinion Piece 22 If Africa is to develop its agriculture, should it follow the recommendations of the World Commission on Dams? Mafa E. Chipeta 22 Articles 26 Sharing the benefits of large dams in West Africa Jamie Skinner and Jérôme Koundouno 26 Managing the Komati’s water resources: integrating sustainable use of land, forests and fisheries in a basin shared by South Africa and Swaziland Sipho V. Nkambule 30 Certifying Sustainable Aquaculture for Africa; leveling the playing field for smaller-scale producers while ensuring ecosystem health Randall Brummett 34 Complementarity between the sectorial water management approach and integrated management of water resources: concept and implementation mechanisms. Lebdi Fethi 38 Agricultural water development and management in Africa: the role of AgWA partnership AgWA Secretariat, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 42 Nature & Faune, Volume 27, Issue 1 FAO REGIONALFAO RegionalOFFICE OfficeFOR for AFRICAAfrica Impacts of climate change and variability on Africa’s water resources Benjamin De Ridder and Jean Ruhiza Boroto 44 The link between forest, water and people: an agenda to promote in the context of climate change in Central Africa Sonwa Denis, Martial Gapia, Wilfried Pokam, Felix Losembe and Oumarou Mfochivé 48 Integrated management of land and water: agricultural and land use practices to enhance water security in Cameroon Mathias Fru Fonteh 53 Sustainable water management tips for Sahel savannah ecoregion of Nigeria Temitope Israel Borokini 57 Integrating sustainable use of land, forests and fisheries: the case of Bui dam's water resources management on the Black Volta River in Ghana Ofori-Danson Kwabena and S. Abenney-Mickson 60 Underwater logging: Ghana’s experience with the Volta lake project Godfred Asare and Sean Helmus 64 Conservation of water resources by planting Australian acacias in the vicinity of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire Bakayoko Oumar and Saley Mahaman Bachir 67 Towards integrated river basin management: case study of Gonarezhou national park, Zimbabwe Edson Gandiwa, Patience Gandiwa, Simba Sandram and Evious Mpofu 70 Country Focus: Swaziland 76 Towards sustainable and integrated water resources management in Swaziland Leonard Sive Ndlovu and Trevor Shongwe 76 FAO Activities and Results 80 Managing Somali land and water resources Gadain Hussein, Ciacciarelli Palmira, Giasi Francesco and Alinovi Luca 80 FAO invests in small-scale irrigation technologies in West Africa through the Water and Food Security Initiative Nadia Nsabimbona, Gregorio Velasco Gil and Abdourahmane Ba 86 Links 89 Theme and Deadline for Next Issue 90 Guidelines for Authors, Subscription and Correspondence 91 Nature & Faune, Volume 27, Issue 1 Message to Readers FAO REGIONALFAO RegionalOFFICE OfficeFOR for AFRICAAfrica institutional failures, with institutional Message to Readers underdevelopment posing the greatest challenge. Faced with the fact that too many people in the continent have little access to managed water, Maria Helena Semedo1 Africa’s water-related institutional arrangements are currently too feeble to accelerate the implementation of the water agenda in the continent. The special feature in this issue includes three articles on: (1) Okavango river basin; (2) Opportunities for expanding the benefits from cooperative transboundary water governance in the hroughout the past six months, Nature & Nile basin; and (3) Volta basin. The Cubango- Faune magazine has been shinning a light on Okavango river basin, shared by Angola, Botswana T managing Africa’s water and other natural and Namibia, remains one of the least human- resources. A lynch pin in water resources impacted river basins on the continent. Due to the conservation in Africa is the integration of uniqueness of the basin and its resources, and sustainable use of land, forests and fisheries. therefore the need to protect its integrity, Botswana Twenty articles from contributors working in and has given up the right to mining one of its most outside the African continent explore the different prominent coal beds because it exist right under the facets of the over-arching theme: “Managing Africa’s Okavango inland delta. Everisto Mapedza and water resources: integrating sustainable use of Tesfaye Tafesse, drawing from experiences in the land, forests and fisheries”. The articles reflect the Nile basin, concur that the Okavango case is interface between water resources and land, forestry another outstanding illustration of joint management and in-land fisheries management in the continent. and multiple-benefit sharing beyond the water Content and subject matter of articles featured resource itself, for riparian countries in Africa that contribute to the assessment of best practices, and share a common river basin. The third featured offer applicable measures to ensure a secured article highlights some aspects of integrated water access to abundant and good quality water, land, resources management practices in West Africa with forests and fisheries in Africa. a focus on the Volta river basin. It reviews progress made during the past several decades in the In the editorial, Bai-Mass Taal, Executive Secretary management of Africa’s transboundary surface and of African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) ground water resources, especially in relation to reminds stakeholders at all levels to act on a wide established institutional arrangements such as river range of fronts, with particular emphasis on and lake basin organizations. integrated — as opposed to piecemeal — approaches to managing water in Africa. Integrated The Opinion Piece on the World Commission on management and better coordination are obviously Dams’ report makes the case for creation of more important. However, too little water is managed in dams in Africa. Also featured is the experience of Africa, resulting in overwhelming need for more sharing the benefits of large dams in West Africa. management effort at all levels. If current levels of water management are maintained, the region will On the whole, eight articles emphasize the likely not register significant progress towards importance of designing and implementing sustainable