Miscellaneous Knowledge Notes
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Publication
Protecting the Region’s Natural Resources
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-11)The West African coastal zone hosts critical natural resources and habitats that provide important ecosystem services. The area’s natural resources play vital roles in the functioning of the shoreline, providing natural protection against erosion, pollution, sea level rise, and extreme weather events. Coastal and marine ecosystems, including cold-water coral reefs, sea¬grass meadows, mangrove forests, and coastal wetlands and lagoons, also provide indispensable ecosystem services for the fisheries sector, as spawning and nursery areas for fish. The destruction and degradation of coastal natural resources has trans-boundary impacts. Joint efforts are therefore needed to develop win-win solutions. Regional collaboration and integrated decision making on the part of West African coastal countries is paramount if long-term, viable solutions are to be identified and implemented. -
Publication
The Effects of Climate Change on Coastal Erosion in West Africa
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-11)The effects of climate change, from changing precipitation patterns to rising seas, will exacerbate the coastal erosion already affecting West Africa, increasing the exposure and vulnerability of the people and assets located there. Given the importance of the coastal zone to the region as a whole, it is critical that policy makers consider the effects of future climate change in the decisions they make today. Regional cooperation is challenging, but it has been successful in many places, particularly where the issue addressed presented an existential challenge to the coun¬tries affected. Efforts to build trust and coordinate efforts will help policy makers protect the lives and livelihoods of the people in the region and allow their countries to build on the development gains made in recent years rather than see them rolled back as a result of climate change. -
Publication
Building Climate Resilience
(World Bank, Entebbe, 2015-05-01)Climate change is a critical issue facing the countries of the Nile basin. While individual weather events are difficult to attribute to climate change, their sum is already having adverse effects on socioeconomic conditions across the region. While climate change was not an overt focus of the Nile basin initiative’s (NBI’s) mandate when it was launched in 1999, it has emerged as a key challenge for countries of the Nile to take seriously. Understanding variability in river flows is one of the first steps in understanding climate change impacts and planning how to respond to them. Developing this understanding and getting it into use has been at the heart of the NBI’s technical work. -
Publication
Powering the Nile Basin
(World Bank, Entebbe, 2015-05-01)The Nile countries are endowed with substantial energy resources. Yet, these have not been fully tapped and several Nile countries have low levels of access to electricity. This note showcases the achievements made at the regional level to address this issue through cooperative projects of regional significance. These include projects that extend and link transmission lines to achieve interconnections, and ones that promote responsible development and generation of hydropower. The Nile basin initiative (NBI) has played a catalytic role in facilitating these projects, reducing power poverty, and increasing national energy security. -
Publication
Highlights of 15 Years of Nile Cooperation
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-05-01)In 1999, nine Nile basin countries came together in a remarkable partnership. They formed the Nile basin initiative as a platform for joint working to better understand and utilize the common Nile resource, to harness the benefits for equitable and sustainable regional economic development. This note highlights the key achievements of this historic endeavor. -
Publication
Restoring the Nile Basin
(World Bank, Entebbe, 2015-05-01)Watershed management has come to be recognized as a critical issue in the Nile Basin. Upstream land use can cause degradation and soil erosion, resulting in lower agricultural yields locally and causing sedimentation downstream. The increased sediment load causes economic problems by reducing water quality, and irrigation and hydropower potential, as well as increasing flooding. This note shows how, through Basin-wide cooperation, the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) has led efforts to address these problems, developing successful projects to deliver real results to restore the Nile. -
Publication
Reducing Flood Devastation in the Nile Basin
(World Bank, Entebbe, 2015-05-01)A regional cooperation effort coordinated by the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) has created a credible system that links multiple stakeholders to work together to address flooding and its impacts. The Flood Preparedness and Early Warning (FPEW) project that ran until 2010 operated in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan. It created a regional flood preparedness and early warning program which is ongoing, reducing the risk of flood devastation for over 2 million people in the region. -
Publication
Cooperation in the Nile Basin: Sharing and Using Knowledge to Improve Water Resource Management
(World Bank, Entebbe, 2015-05-01)The countries of the Nile Basin have been working together for the past 15 years to build a program of cooperation that allows them to utilize their shared resource equitably for regional economic development. Through the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), they have generated extensive, impartial knowledge and information about the river basin. Developing a common understanding of the river system has been crucial for building trust among the countries. Today, this knowledge is embedded in accessible information systems, informing planning, policies, and projects that are set to improve opportunities for economic growth across the region. -
Publication
Cooperation on the Nile: Bringing Down the Glass Wall
(World Bank, Entebbe, 2015-05-01)A unique cooperation program, working across different countries with varying national interests, stakeholders, and projects, has brought down the glass wall. Coordinated by the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), this program has successfully built trust, strengthened capacity, and created an enabling environment for sustainable and equitable development of the Nile Basin water resources. Transboundary cooperation has advanced regional integration through identifying and developing joint investments. This note presents the journey so far by the Nile Basin member states in building regional cooperation, and the crucial role played by the NBI in the achievement.