Valerio Nicolin Student number: 4836618 Master’s Thesis Environment and Society Studies Nijmegen School of Management Radboud University Nijmegen, June 2020 Title: Water Security in the West-African State of Niger Sub-title: The Management of the Niger River Author: Valerio Nicolin Supervisor: Maria Kaufmann, MSc. Abstract The following research focuses on the management of the Niger River in the West-African state of Niger. The analysis aims to understand how Niger hydrological resources management manifests its deficiency in Water Security (WS). WS is a theoretical framework elaborated by David Grey, Senior Water Advisor, and Claudia Sadoff, Lead Economist, of The World Bank in 2007. Water Security means that a country should achieve a balance between water availability and water-related risks for human-made activities if the latter is not achieved, the country is considered water-insecure and “water-related issues will recurrently jeopardize its development” (Grey & Sadoff, 2007). To answer the research question, Water Security has been decomposed in eight core concept - Water Security, Ecosystem, Valuation, Institutions, Infrastructures, Minimum Platform Of Investments, Management, Climate Change - to better describes Niger problematic situation. The results highlighted a dramatic situation in which the development of the State is recurrently jeopardized by poor managerial choices in every core aspect. The ultimate goal was to start a reflection about a better approach to hydrological resources in the country. Hopefully, one capable of close the gaps and ultimately improve the development of Niger. Keywords: Water Security, Policy Arrangements, Management, Water, Climate Change, Institutions, Infrastructure, Governance Barriers. Index 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................................................................................1 1.2 Historical background .........................................................................................................................................................................................................1 1.3 Geographic, Demographic and Economic background........................................................................................................................................................3 1.4 The Niger River ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................5 1.5 Niger’s Ecosystem……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….7 1.6 Research Problem...............................................................................................................................................................................................................8 1.7 Research Objectives and Research Questions .................................................................................................................................................................. 11 1.8 Scientific Relevance .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12 1.9 Societal Relevance ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 13 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ..........................................................................................................................................................................................14 2.2 The Dynamics of Policy Arrangements..............................................................................................................................................................................14 2.2.1 The Four Dimensions or the Tetrahedron .......................................................................................................................................15 2.2.2 The Typology of Arrangements .......................................................................................................................................................19 2.3 Water Security Paradigm ..................................................................................................................................................................................................21 2.3.1 Definition of the Paradigm and Countries Division .........................................................................................................................21 2.3.2 Minimum Investments Platforms....................................................................................................................................................24 2.3.3 The Challenges to Achieving Water Security ...................................................................................................................................26 2.4 Barriers to Adaptation ......................................................................................................................................................................................................28 2.4.1 Governance and the Art of Overcoming Barriers to Adaptation .....................................................................................................28 2.4.2 A Framework to Diagnose Barriers to Climate Change Adaptation .................................................................................................29 2.5 Conceptual Model ............................................................................................................................................................................................................36 3. METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH TECHNIQUES ..............................................................................................................................................................37 3.2 Methods, Data Collection and Analysis……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ....................................................38 4. CASE STUDY ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................40 4.2 Water Security: Where does Niger stand? ........................................................................................................................................................................41 4.2.1 Hydrological Environment ..............................................................................................................................................................42 4.2.2 Socio-Economic Environment……………………………………………………………………… .................................................................................44 4.2.3 Changes in future Environment…………………………………………………………………… ................................................................................45 4.3 Institutions .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................47 4.3.1 Niger Governmental actors .............................................................................................................................................................47 4.3.2 Regional actors ...............................................................................................................................................................................50 4.3.3 Programs and projects ....................................................................................................................................................................52 4.4 Infrastructures ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................53 4.4.1 The Extraction Point SPEN/SEEN .....................................................................................................................................................53 4.4.2 The Kandaji Dam…………………………………………………………………………………………..................................................................................54 4.5 Minimum Platform of Investments ...................................................................................................................................................................................55 4.6 Management ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................56 4.7 Climate Change ................................................................................................................................................................................................................58 4.7.1 The Sahelian Paradox ......................................................................................................................................................................60 5. CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................................................................................................................61