ACEWATER2 SCIENTIFIC

Hydrological fluxes, land use and climate change are significant processes in the biogeochemical processes and agricultural productivity in the Lake Victoria Basin. The objective was to elicit hydrological trends with attendant quality and quantity components, assess land use change patterns as well as implications of climate change on maize yields in the LVB.

Blue Nile River is the main source of water for hundreds of millions of people in Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt. Natural resources in the Nile Basin are under enormous pressure due to population growth, economic development, increased energy and food needs. Among the multiple challenges the Blue Nile Basin poses, figures boldly the impact of land use on the water quality and quantity. Consequently, the impact produced on human and ecosystem health as a result of water quality deterioration and water quantity depletion is a cause for high concern.

This study analyzes past and future scenarios for the water-energy-food-ecosystem (WEFE) nexus in the Blue Nile Basin in Sudan. Water availability, hydropower generation, irrigation water supply, and environmental flows are the components considered in the current assessment. A calibrated daily rainfall-runoff and water allocation model was used to quantify the four nexus components and their interlinkages.

This study Examines the Water, Energy, Food and Ecosystem (WEFE) nexus assessment in the Niger Delta basin of Nigeria. One major component of the Niger Delta basin is that it has been a constant receptor of the unrelenting pressure and assault in the ecosystem and this has adversely affected the living condition of the people.

Dans le cadre de la mise en œuvre du projet E-Nexus, il est prévu le développement et l’implémentation d’un modèle hydrologique pour l’estimation du bilan hydrologique et la gestion de l’eau, la production agricole, le maintien des écosystèmes. A cet effet, SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) a été identifié comme le modèle hydrologique à développer sur le bassin du Niger.

West Africa, particularly the Sudano-Sahelian zone, has experienced unprecedented climate variability in recent decades. Despite some periods of respite, the statistics do not really plead for a return to better climatic conditions, precisely rainfall. Beyond the structural aspect of this climate variability, many effects have been observed on socio-economic activities and also on socio-cultural practices. This situation has a dramatic impact on water resources and inparticular on the hydrology of West African transboundary basins such as those of Senegal and Gambia.

The wealth of natural and human resources, coupled with its water resource development opportunities, made the Zambezi Watercourse ideal for assessing current governance approaches and its effectiveness to support sustainable socio-economic development impact, particularly community and livelihoods scales, through implementing the WEFE Nexus. There were three phases to the study: firstly, a collation and assessment of the Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM) governance documents and approaches; secondly, evaluating the risks identified in the scientific assessments of the study; and lastly, to support existing ZAMCOM initiatives through practicable interventions that would enhance WEFE Nexus implementation, using the findings from Phases 1 and 2. The study established that there was a wealth of information available about various aspects of the Zambezi Watercourse, including the WEFE Nexus. At a macro level, the ZAMCOM Agreement and the Strategic Plan for the Zambezi Watercourse 2018-2040 address the governance framework and related high-level enabling structures. However, implementation of the governance framework across different geographical scales in the watercourse, particularly at the community and household scales for livelihoods benefits was unclear, as were any tangible WEFE Nexus benefits. The key issue from the scientific assessments was the lack of data on the one hand; and secondly, the quality of the available data could be questionable. This would negatively affect objective scientific assessments that were an important basis for governance intervention decisions. The WEFE nexus governance implementation framework proposed in this study took into account these factors including the unique socio-technical and socio-political dynamics of the watercourse. Consideration of indigenous knowledge systems and traditions and the severe resource constraints that are typical of many African situations were a key factor in the implementation framework configuration. The emphasis of the proposed governance implementation framework is not theoretical or academic, but rather a practitioner perspective that is catalytic, practical and realistic.

- Annex 31: Seetal A., 2020. Water governance, cooperation and information systems: inception report. ACEWATER2 report JRC122955 (Component of deliverable)
- Annex 32: Seetal A., 2020. Water governance, cooperation and information systems: Project Manual “A Catalyst for Practical Governance”. ACEWATER2 report JRC122955 (Main deliverable)

The transboundary Zambezi River Basin (ZRB), the fourth largest in Africa, faces many challenges from
the perspective of the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) nexus, including, among many others,
hydropower, reservoir multipurpose optimization and release management, rainfed and irrigated
agriculture development, impact of land use and agricultural practices (including livestock and
fisheries), role of ecosystem services (natural parks, wetlands), pressures on resources due to

The Zambezi River Basin (ZRB) is among the key water resources of Southern Africa. It

sustains the socio-economic livelihoods of a rapidly growing population of over 40

The work addresses main issues related to the groundwater resource and quality assessment over the Zambezi river basin, namely: