THE ENVIRONMENT: A BASIS FOR ENERGY,
FOOD AND WATER SECURITY IN THE NILE RIVER BASIN
KEY NOTE SPEECH BY PROF. MARK MWANDOSYA
NILE DAY 22nd February 2017, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.
Your Excellency Samia Suluhu Hassan,
Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania;
Honourable Sam Cheptoris, Minister
for Water and Environment, Republic of Uganda, and Chairman of The Nile Council
of Ministers;
Honourable Gerson Lwenge, Minister of
Water, United Republic of Tanzania;
Honourable Ministers;
Honourable Members of Parliament;
Excellencies Ambassadors and High
Commissioners;
Chairperson of the Nile Basin
Discourse;
Members of the Nile Technical
Advisory Committee;
Management and Staff of the Nile
Basin Initiative;
Fellow Participants;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
I start my discourse today by
thanking Almighty God for the opportunity, a wonderful opportunity for that
matter, availed to us to meet here in Dar es Salaam as we mark another Nile Day
today.
Let me also use this opportunity to
thank the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and the Ministry of Water of the United
Republic of Tanzania for honour you have done me, to invite me to be a Keynote
Speaker to this august assembly of custodians and friends of the Nile. It is
said of the Nile that once you taste or drink its water, the Nile will always
be in your blood. My presence here before you attests to these words of sage.
For ever since I visited Jinja, and Cairo in the 1970s and 1980s respectively,
my association with the Nile has always been paramount in my work.
Upon being invited as a Keynote
Speaker I was advised to confine myself to the theme of today's Nile Day, Nile
Day 2017: One Shared Nile - Source of Energy, Food and Water for All. It is
indeed a fitting theme, and a wide theme too. As I was considering the subject
matter of my address I reflected with amazement how relevant is the theme of
the Nile Day to human existence. The air that we breathe, the water which is
life, and the soil from we and most forms of life derive our existence, kind of
define the theme of Nile Day 2017.
The derivative I am referring to can
be summarised as the environment of the River Nile and its Basin. Much has been
heard about disagreements concerning water allocation and rights and
responsibilities concerning the use of the Nile waters. For water to be
allocated and used, it must be sourced, conserved and and protected, for its
flow sustained. As such I intend to share with you what I believe will be
non-controversial a subject matter: The Environment: A basis for Energy, Food
and Water Security in the Nile River Basin. I wish to share with you some
thoughts on: Sustainable Development and the Environment of the Nile Basin; the
conservation and protection of land, water, and water catchment areas of the
Nile Basin; Climate vulnerability and impacts of climate change; the
environment of the Nile Basin in the context of the Cooperative Framework
Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and recommendations for
attention and action.
Land, air and water are the basic life
supporting system. This triple life system provides the core of the definition
of the environment. For, the environment is variously defined as encompassing
air, land, and water; plant and animal life including human life, the
social, economic, recreational, cultural
and aesthetic conditions and other factors that influence the lives of human
beings, animals, plants, and other micro-organisms. The environment encompasses
both the natural and the built environment and how they relate to each other.
Sustainable development has been
succinctly defined in the Brundtland Report on the World and the Environment:
Our Common Future as “development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” Put
simply sustainable development is about the sustenance of natural systems to
continue to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services upon which the
economy and society depends. In the context of the River Nile and its Basin,
sustainable development refers to the sustenance of land, water, air, climate,
to continue to provide the River Nile, its sources and tributaries, with
continuous supply of water for human, plant and animal life and for social and
economic development, now and in the future. This in brief is the essence of
Environment and Sustainable Development of the Nile River Basin.
Concerns have been expressed by some
riparian states of the River Nile about water security. To me this concern
would seem to be of the medium term. I
humbly submit that we should all be mindful of the imperative to sustain the
flow of the Nile now and in the long term. It is the environment of the upper
Nile Basin which should concern us all. For this is the water tower of the Nile
Basin. The water tower includes the following sub basins of the Nile:
The Lake Victoria sub basin comprises
of the equatorial highlands of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania and the
Lake zones of Tanzania Kenya and Uganda. This sub basin of the Nile Basin
receives precipitation between 700mm and 2000mm per annum. Precipitation over
Lake Victoria is of the order of 1600mm annually, and is about the same as the
amount lost to evaporation.
The floodplains of Bahr el Ghazal in
north west of South Sudan and south west of Sudan drain the Na’am, Gel, Tonj,
Jur, and Lol rivers. These rivers are sourced from the highlands which form the
watershed between the Congo River Basin and the Nile River Basin.
The Western Ethiopian Highlands are
the source of the Blue Nile, the Sobat, and the Atbara or Tekeze rivers. These
tributaries of the Nile from the Ethiopian Highlands, for the four to six
months that precipitation occurs contribute to contribute 86 percent of the
waters of the Nile in any one year.
The contribution of the equatorial great
lakes region to the waters of the Nile,
while a mere 14 percent is considerable. For the flow from the great
lakes is almost constant throughout the year, giving the Nile the character of
continuous flow all the year round, utility and navigability.
Of interest and for the sustainable
flow of the river are the marshlands of the Nile Basin. The Sudd in South Sudan
is one of the largest wetlands in the world. The Sudd is the natural filter and
regulator of the flow of the White Nile. This regulation gives the White Nile
and therefore the Nile, its continuous flow. Evapotranspiration and evaporation
is considerably high. It is estimated that only 50 percent of the water passing
through the Sudd exits as output. The wider Sudd includes the marshlands of Bahr
el Ghazal, Bahr el Jebel, and the Machar.
The equatorial highlands, wetlands,
rivers and lakes, the Ethiopian highlands, rivers and lakes and the marshlands
of the Sudd are what sustain the River Nile and the lower Nile River Basin and
riparian states.
In making a case for the riparian
states of the Nile to give more attention to the protection of the Nile Basin I
will restrict my remarks to a call for a basin wide strategy for the
conservation of land and the protection, watersheds, and sources of tributaries
of the Nile and the River Nile itself.
The majority of the population in the
upper riparian states are smallholder peasants and livestock herders. They
depend mainly on rain fed agriculture. According to the United Nations the
world population is expected to increase from almost 7 billion today to 9.1
billion by 2050. The population of the Basin states is expected to grow from
424 million in 2010 to 624 million in 2030. This will translate into a large
increase in demand for natural resources, food and water. Natural resources,
land and water included, are finite. The competition for land and water in the
Nile Basin will be a major challenge to the population of the basin and
planners. The importance of natural vegetation in the natural water cycle and
rainfall cannot be overemphasised. Population increase will exert pressure on
the natural vegetation due to demand for farming and for livestock keeping.
Runoff would increase leading to increased sedimentation in the tributaries and
the river Nile. Increased use of fertilizers coupled with increased runoff in
the highlands will lead to salinization of water, degradation of the quality of
soil and water, the filling of reservoirs leading to a reduction of energy in
the form of hydropower and vital water supply.
Agriculture claims more than two
thirds of water withdrawn from the earth’s lakes, rivers and groundwater
aquifers. In many areas the use of water for agriculture is highly inefficient.
In some places as much as 85 percent of water diverted for irrigation does not
reach the intended crop. Wasteful irrigation practices entail loss of precious
water and causes waterlogging and salinization.
Anthropogenic or human related causes
of major environmental catastrophes that have caused havoc to land and water
are real. Lake Chad Basin is a case in point. Lake Chad is shared by Chad,
Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria. In 1963 the lake covered an area of 25,000 sq.
km. By the year 2007 the lake had shrunk to 1850 sq. km, about one twentieth of
its size in the 1960s.
The Aral Sea, shared by Uzbekistan
and Kazakhstan is another classic example of a human-induced environmental
disaster. In 1960 the Aral Sea covered an area of 68,000 sq. km. By 1998 the
sea had shrunk to 28,687 sq. km. In 2004 the Aral Sea had been reduced to a
mere 17,160 sq. km. The main cause of the disappearance of much of the Aral Sea
was the diversion of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, the two rivers flowing into
the Sea, for irrigation purposes during the Soviet era.
From the foregoing clearly humanity
has a destructive capacity of immense proportion on the environment. The River
Nile and its tributaries are a victim of another human induced catastrophe, the
water hyacinth. The water hyacinth (Eichhornia
crassipes) has its origins and is native to Amazon Forest in South America.
It has spread rapidly across the world because of its beautiful violet and
purple ornamental flower. As an invasive and alien species outside the Amazon,
the water hyacinth has been classified by the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as one of the 100 most aggressive invasive
species, one of the top worst weeds, and indeed the worst water weed. It is
efficient in the use of solar energy and water nutrients in the production of
biomass. It is prolific in spreading in lakes, wetlands, marshes and ponds in
the River Nile Basin. The water hyacinth
has led to destruction of biodiversity; prevention of oxygen
transfer from the air to the water
surface; reduction of water quality; clogging of waterways this hampering
transport, hydropower, agriculture, fisheries, tourism and recreation; and an
increase in pests and water borne vectors causing malaria, typhoid, dysentery,
schistosomiasis, rift valley fever, E coli infection, bilharzia, and cholera.
The blockage of waterways by the water hyacinth renders many areas infested by
the weed prone to flooding.
First seen in Egypt in the 1890s the
water hyacinth has spread along the full length of the River Nile Basin such
that by the 1990s it had covered much of the coastline of Lake Victoria.
Control measures against the water hyacinth have included: mechanical and
manual removal of the weed; chemical control through use of herbicides;
biological control through the introduction of weevil beetles (Neochetina spp) and water hyacinth moth
species (Niphograpta albiguttalis and
Xubida infusella); utilization of the
weed as an alternative energy source, the manufacture of household articles and
other artisanal goods, and as animal feedstock.
The aforementioned measures have been
applied towards the control of the weed in Lake Victoria through the Lake
Victoria Environment Management Project (LVEMP). The term control is used to
signify the difficulty of eradicating the weed. Its spread can be minimised at
a particular place only to appear lat another location later. A basin-wide
approach to the control of the water hyacinth on a long term and sustained
programme could be economically beneficial measure against the costs of dealing
with the negative effects of the weed. Over the last century the lower riparian
states of the River Nile, Egypt and Sudan have acquired considerable knowledge
and knowhow on the management and control of the water hyacinth. This
knowledge, and together with the experience gained in the implementation of the
LVEMP, should be invaluable as the River Nile riparian states continue to
struggle to ameliorate the effects of the water hyacinth.
In my opening remarks I did allude to
the fact that land, water, and air broadly define the term “environment”. A
sound environment is the basis of our existence and that of biodiversity in
general. Land and water provide the Nile River Basin population with food and
energy. The imperative of preservation of the environment for sustained
availability of land for food, and water for survival, is well understood, and
is the essence of the aforesaid. The question is how do we proceed as River
Nile riparian states to address together the formidable but manageable
responsibility of preserving the environment of the Basin in order to sustain
the flow of water for the benefit of all? I am immediately reminded of work that
my colleagues and I undertook in 2006 when we formulated a national strategy to
combat the degradation of land and water catchment areas. I draw heavily from
that work as I propose that we formulate An Integrated Nile Basin Strategy to
Combat the the Degradation of Land and Water Catchment Areas (Nile-SLAWACA).
The Nile-SLAWACA should aim at identifying specific challenges on land and
water catchment, tributary and River Nile water degradation across the entire
Basin. The Strategy has to identify areas affected and measures and strategic
actions required to address specific challenges, the timeframe for the
implementation of the actions, and the players, stakeholders, and national,
regional and international institutions responsible for implementation.
The Nile-SLAWACA could seek to
address among others, the following challenges, and identify strategic actions
to be taken: Environmental degradation from arising human activities related to
unacceptable land use practices including farming and human settlements near
river banks and around water sources;
environmental degradation due to encroachment of water sources and water
catchments by large concentrations of livestock beyond the carrying capacity of
land; environmental degradation of the Basin caused by deforestation and
massive natural tree cutting for fuelwood, charcoal, and construction
activities in rural and especially urban areas; unsustainable small and large
scale irrigation projects and programmes; environmental degradation due to
wildfires; land and water degradation resulting from alien invasive species;
combating drought and desertification; land use conflicts among farmers and
livestock keepers; environmental degradation arising from mining activities on
watersheds, in water sources and along tributaries and the River Nile;
identification of traditional and indigenous knowledge for environmental
protection; and public awareness and community participation in environmental
protection through sustainable utilisation of natural resources including land
and water.
The climate system provides a dynamic
link between land and water. The question now is not whether climate will
change in response to the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but
rather what would be the magnitude, which regions would be impacted, and how
should the international community cope with the impacts. Even climate deniers
and climate sceptics are beginning to appreciate human contribution to the
build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Climate change will have the
following adverse impacts to the Nile River Basin: changes in surface water
flows; increase in droughts with dry regions becoming drier; impacts on
agriculture and fisheries; sea level rise in the Mediterranean; impacts on
human settlements, the ecology and biodiversity; increased flood potential; and
negative impacts on human health. Despite recent setbacks, specifically what
seems to be a retreat by the present American Administration, the international
community under the Paris Agreement recognises that developing countries,
including those in the Nile River Basin will be severely impacted by climate
change and need to be assisted in order to cope with the changes. Climate
change adaptation requires basin-wide cooperation.
The sustained flow of water in the
Nile River Basin is a function of ecosystem management and efficient
utilisation of water, or water efficiency. While rain fed agriculture
predominates agriculture in much of the Nile River Basin, irrigation is the
mainstay of agriculture in the lower riparian states. According to the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), irrigated agriculture
contributes 40 percent of the global food supply from 20 percent of cultivated
area, and accounts for 70 percent of water extracted from surface sources. As
demand for food increases due to population increase in the Nile River Basin so
will the demand for water. As much as 80 percent of water extracted for
irrigation does not reach the plant. Scope for efficiency improvement in
irrigation systems abound. Technological solutions include use of drip
irrigation, sprinkler irrigation, and construction and maintenance of
irrigation structures such as lining of primary and secondary canals.
Efficiencies of up to 90 percent can be attained through use of pressurised
systems. In agriculture attention should shift from; more crop from more drops
of water, to more crop per drop, and aiming for more crop per less drop. The
experience of Egypt and Sudan in improved irrigation systems could be of benefit
throughout the rest of the Nile River Basin.
Presently more than 50 percent of the
world’s population are urban dwellers. By 2030 this proportion will have grown
to 60 percent. By 2010 about 30 percent of the Nile Basin population was urban.
The trend is for the proportion of urban population to increase. According to
the Nile Basin Water Atlas by the year 2050 the urban population will be above
50% in Egypt, Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The
proportion will be between 40 percent and 50 percent in Eritrea, Kenya, and
Sudan, and between 30 percent and 40 percent in Uganda, Ethiopia, and South
Sudan. In sub-saharan Africa and in the Nile River basin the majority of these
urban dwellers will live in slums. In the Nile River Basin the population will
be concentrated mainly in Mwanza, Musoma, Bukoba, Kisumu, Jinja, Kampala, Juba,
Malakal, Khartoum, Omdurman, Atbara, Bahir Dar, Addis Ababa, Gondar, Aswan,
Luxor, Cairo, Damietta and Alexandria. Urban development will impact land use
and agriculture due to the demand for urban housing. The demand for water for
industrial and residential use in urban areas will also increase considerably,
as will the output in the form of industrial wastewater and sewerage. Municipal
Authorities in towns and cities in the Basin use the lakes, tributaries and the
River Nile to dispose of untreated or poorly treated wastewater and
sewage. In order to curb water pollution
and promote water efficiency, the adoption of recycling and cleaner
technologies will be essential.
The case being made in the foregoing
is that for sustainable development, the present and future demand for energy, food and water in the Nile
River Basin should be met, but not at the expense of environmental degradation
and pollution of the waters. This is the essence of “decoupling” which has been
defined by the International Resource Panel of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) as: breaking the link between the imperative of human
well-being, economic growth and environmental degradation. Decoupling can
either be resource-wise or impact-wise. Resource decoupling involves reducing
the intensity of energy, water, and material use of the economy achieved
through resource efficiency increase or increase in resource productivity. Impact
decoupling involves the reduction of the environmental impact of economic
activities. It would be instructive if we could compare the water intensity of
economic growth among the Nile River Basin states over a desirable period in
order to explore and exploit decoupling as a tool for environmental and water
management.
Having participated in NILE-COM
meetings and negotiations which resulted into the Agreement on the Nile River
Basin Cooperative Framework (CFA) it may be worthwhile to put my remarks in the
context of the Agreement. In the Preamble to the CFA the States of the Nile
River Basin proclaim the conviction that a framework agreement…..will promote integrated management and
sustainable development….as well as...conservation and protection [of water
resources] for the benefit of present and future generations. Member states
are motivated by the desire to strengthen
their cooperation….in relation to the sustainable development of the Nile River
Basin. Nile River Basin Member States are also convinced that it is their mutual interest to establish an organisation
to assist them in the management and sustainable development of the Nile River
Basin for the benefit of all. In addition, Member States are mindful of the global initiatives for
promoting cooperation on integrated management and sustainable development of
water resources.
The Preamble sets the intent of the
Member States to cooperate for the sustainable development of the Nile River
Basin. This intention is captured in the General Principles as articulated in
Article 3 of the CFA as follows:
(1)The principle of cooperation…...in order to attain optimal utilization
and adequate protection and conservation of the Nile River Basin….
(2)The principle of sustainable development of the Nile River Basin
(3)The principle that the Nile Basin States take all appropriate measures,
individually, and where appropriate, jointly, for the protection and
conservation of the Nile River Basin and its ecosystem
(4)The principle of environmental impact assessment
(5)The principle that freshwater is a finite and vulnerable resource…...and
must be managed…. in an integrated and holistic manner, linking social and
economic development with the protection and conservation of natural resources.
(6)The principle that water is a natural resource having social and economic
value whose utilization should give priority to…. the safeguarding of the
ecosystem.
The CFA does operationalize the
intent and principles set forth in the foregoing in the following Articles:
Article 6 is all embracing and is
about the protection and conservation of the Nile River Basin and its
ecosystems. It requires Member States to protect
and improve water quality within the Nile River Basin; to prevent the introduction of species, alien
or new into the Nile River Basin, species which may be detrimental to the ecosystem; to protect and conserve wetlands and
biological biodiversity; and to restore and rehabilitate the degraded natural resource base.
Article 9 on environmental impact
assessment and audits is relevant to environmental protection. Article 11 on
prevention and mitigation of harmful conditions; Article 12 on emergency
situations; Article 13 on protection of the Nile River Basin and related
installations in time of armed conflict and Article 14 on water security;
relate to the protection of the environment of the Basin in order to ensure
sustained flow of the River Nile for, its use by, and benefit of, the present
and future generations. The Article on water security is referenced here
because there can be no water security in the event of extreme environmental
degradation of the Nile River Basin.
The aspirations of Member States of
the Nile River Basin to protect and preserve the environment in order to
sustain the flow of the water into the River Nile are consistent with the
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Goal 1 is about ending
poverty in all forms everywhere. This Goal is consistent with the overarching
desire of Member States of the Nile River Basin to cooperate in order to
achieve sustainable development. Goal 2 seeks to end hunger and all forms of
malnutrition through sustainable agriculture and food production by the year
2030. Promotion of sustainable agriculture in the Nile River Basin underpins
cooperation among Member States in particular because of the land and water
stress resulting from population pressure. Goal 3 aims, among other things, to
end epidemics of major communicable diseases including environmental diseases.
Goal 3 is perhaps most relevant. It addresses the availability of safe and
clean drinking water through sustainable management of water resources and
improved sanitation and hygiene. Goal 7 is about the promotion of wide access
to reliable and affordable energy
including the use of hydropower which is a renewable energy, subject of
course to conservation and protection of the environment. Goal 12 aims at
promoting sustainable production and consumption practices including the
management of toxic materials; Goal 13 is about taking urgent action to combat
climate change, and more relevant to us,
to respond to its impacts. Goal 14 seeks to promote conservation and
sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources. Goal 15 aims at the
protection and restoration of degraded lands, biodiversity, and combating
desertification.
Sustainable Development Goals have
moved the bar from consideration of water, to water and sanitation. Just like
water for all, sanitation for all is a challenge that has eluded us over the
last 50 years. Globally in 2015 over 2 million people including 300,000
children under-five years of age died from water and sanitation related
diseases. The elimination of water-borne diseases requires promotion of basic
hygiene including improved latrines and safely managed sanitation for all. A
Basin-wide water strategy should invariably take the sanitation sector into
account.
In this address concentration has
been given to the imperative for the conservation and protection and efficient
utilization of land, watersheds, and water sources in the Nile River Basin.
While the CFA calls for action on the basis of the principle of subsidiarity,
the Nile is one river and sourced from one basin. A coordinated and basin-wide
approach to the protection of the Nile River Basin is essential and necessary.
Thus far discussions on cooperation among the riparian states of the basin have
concerned the distribution of a diminishing resource, water. We should perhaps focus more on conservation,
protection and preservation of the environment of the Nile River Basin, and the
efficient utilization of the River, in order to ensure the sustainability of
water, which we can then share equitably. This is the essence, and the basis of
water security for sustainable human development.
The Sanitation, and Water for All
meeting of Ministers held in Addis Ababa in 2016 identified five key building
blocks for a strategy to reach the water Sustainable Development Goals: Sound
Policy Formulation; Finance; Planning, Monitoring and Review; Capacity
Development; and Institutional Arrangements. The agenda I have proposed in the
foregoing is loaded. The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) was supposed to be a
transitional institutional arrangement towards the Nile Basin Authority. It has
now taken the form of a permanent transitional arrangement. It is high time the
Nile Council of Ministers urged Member states to finalise the ratification,
acceptance, approval or accession to the Nile River Basin Cooperative Framework
Agreement (CFA).
I wish to end my remarks with the
parable of a village hunter as recounted to us by sage:
A famous village hunter went on a
mission to procure wildlife for the food needs of his village and his family.
Renowned for hunting as he was, yet he could not encounter an animal to spear.
At the end of three days exhausted as he, was luck came upon him but all he was
able to procure was a rabbit. Upon returning to the village, whose expectations
were high, a struggle ensued with every able bodied man wanting the best part
of the miserable little animal. Old people, wisdom not diminished, reminded the
youth that when they were young in the good old days, wildlife and therefore
food was plentiful, and the forest was full of trees and ush vegetation. If the
young people wanted food, they advised, they should reclaim the forest and in
the meanwhile increase the manpower required for hunting.
As an anecdote, I am reminded of my
days in the Council of Ministers during which the Minister responsible for
finance would present his draft budget for the following fiscal year.
Discussions would start by the Chairperson saying: “before us is the proverbial
rabbit, let us see how we can share the meat”. Each of us would, sweating
profusely, protest vehemently at the “massive” reduction of our ministerial
budgets, invariably without proposing sources and means for extra revenue, or
how an extra fat rabbit could be procured. After every one of us had a chance
to complain and protest, the gable would go down after the declaration “ the
rabbit is so shared and the draft budget approved.
In the context of my address to you,
and in the context of the Nile River Basin, the moral of the parable of the
rabbit, and the anecdote of the national budget process, is that we are
prepared to vehemently and passionately disagree about the sharing the waters
of the Nile and forget that we have to conserve, preserve and protect the basin
environment and ecosystem and to efficiently utilize the water, for the
sustained flow of the Nile and for sustainable human development.
ONE NILE, ONE RIVER, ONE BASIN
 |
| Receiving an award from HE Samia Suluhu Hassan, Vice President of Tanzania during the 2017 Nile Day Celebrations, hosted by Tanzania, in Dar es Salaam, on 22 February 2017 |
©Mark Mwandosya
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