The Nile Basin has enough water for agriculture but water management policies in its 11 countries risk locking out small-scale farmers, a new research has found out.
The research says that even though the Nile and its tributaries are abundant, lack of access to water is another area that could negatively affects the poor
Apart from Rwanda other countries in the Nile Basin include Kenya, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, South Sudan, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopian and Egypt
The research, which has been published in a new book, The Nile River Basin: Water, Agriculture, Governance and Livelihoods, calls on governments to invest in agricultural water management initiatives like irrigation and rain water harvesting to help small-scale farmers grow food throughout the year.
Dr Seleshi Bekele, scientist and a co-author from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) says currently governments in the basin are giving scant attention to improvement of water management in their policies to small scale farmers which are key to the region’s economic growth, food security and poverty reduction.
The book has been published by The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.
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