#AUW2017: Innovative water management in Africa requires collaboration

#AUW2017: Innovative water management in Africa requires collaboration.
Uganda’s Minister of Water and Environment Sam Cheptoris kicked off proceedings in the Water track on the first day of this year’s African Utility Week.
The first session’s focus was on water scarcity in Africa.
He described some of the water-related challenges experienced in Uganda and how various spatial and temporal variables render certain areas of the country water-stressed over long periods of time.
"The country has experienced increasing episodes of dry and hot spells over the last decades and the spread of areas affected have been increasing, where some areas have experienced water shortages, and we have had to deal with them through water rationing," he said.
Water-energy-food nexus Paul Yilla, a research scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria, and chair of the session, delved into the water-energy-food nexus and how silo-based management in the water sector needs to be broken down and discouraged.
“When you talk about the nexus, it goes beyond just water, energy and food and could include aspects of population growth, environmental pressures and geopolitical conflicts and how these affect the trade of these resources and the security of these resources within borders,” he said.
Transboundary management of water resources Effective management of shared water resources is important for water-stressed regions in Africa.
Yilla used the example of the Ruzizi River where cooperation between Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi has seen the development and management of hydroelectric dams, all three of which share in the socioeconomic benefits.
For more info, go to www.african-utility-week.com.

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