| dc.description.abstract | This is a preliminary discussion paper of the roles and challenges faced in managing watersheds which
are the sources of the waters being used in dry lands and deserts downstream using the Nile Basin in
Africa as an example. It aims at raising the role of managing watersheds which play a significant role in
cross border dry lands and deserts. The Nile basin consists of the following countries: Burundi,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania
and Rwanda. Of these Egypt, Sudan and South Sudan are mainly covered by dry land and desert land.
They depend mainly on the River Nile for water source. However, the Nile comes from Lake Victoria and
this lake gets its waters mainly (70%) from the watersheds of Rwanda. Using an example from Rwanda,
the paper analyses the roles of watersheds as an important source of water for Lake Victoria and River
Nile and in turn the dry lands and deserts in Egypt, Sudan and South Sudan. Effective management of
these watersheds which are currently over 20 and belong to the 5 sub-basins in Rwanda is very
significant in ensuring water availability in Lake Victoria hence the deserts and dry lands north of Lake
Victoria. The paper lists some of the emerging challenges which include the fact that this issue is
significance down played. There is need at global level to identify these cross border critical
watersheds whose role in deserts and dry lands is very significant. The difficulties in doing this are well
known but there is need to identify the watersheds and a global initiative taken to manage them | en_US |
