Accelerating pressure on land and water resources and rapid population growth in the Nile River basin could intensify hunger and poverty in the region, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned recently.
Some of the 11 countries that share the Nile are among the poorest in the world, and if better development planning isn’t introduced it will be difficult to reverse this trend. The warning came as the FAO presented governments in the region with the results of its 10-year Information Products for Nile Basin Water Resource Management project, funded by Italy.
The project aims to equip the authorities with critical information and planning tools so that they can start turning the situation around. It has established modern hydrological monitoring and reporting systems across the Nile basin, helped the authorities co-ordinate data-gathering, and produced comprehensive surveys of water use and agricultural production.
Agriculture uses more than 80% of renewable water resources in the Nile basin and there is limited potential to increase the water supply.
Pasquale Steduto, head of FAO’s Water Development and Management Unit, said, “It’s vital that water authorities have detailed information for good water accounting, and planning tools that let them weigh the costs and benefits of their policies and resource management choices.” – Source: FAO
