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This popular book presents some of the results from the
Nile Basin Research Programme. The Nile Basin region
Nile Issues
faces huge challenges in the future. The ways the Nile Small Streams from the Nile Basin
issues are solved will have enduring consequences for Research Programme

Terje Oestigaard
the development of the region. The topics in this book
include: Who owns and who can use the Nile water and
in which quantity? How does climate change affect the
rain patterns and the amount of water in the Nile? How
does human land use affect the environment and the
species richness? How can ideas about water in cultural
and religious traditions be a source to cooperation
and development? How can the shaping of research

Nile Issues: Small Streams from the Nile Basin Research Programme
universities become a basis for shared knowledge on Nile
issues? How does the international aid system influence
and is influenced by the political agenda in the Nile Basin
countries?

provided by NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives

brought to you by
Terje Oestigaard

CORE
 Nile Issues
Small Streams from the Nile Basin
Research Programme

Terje Oestigaard

FOUNTAIN PUBLISHERS
Kampala
Fountain Publishers
P. O. Box 488
Kampala - Uganda
E-mail: [email protected]
[email protected]
Website: www.fountainpublishers.co.ug

© Terje Oestigaard 2010

First published 2010

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro-

duced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form
or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, record-
ing or otherwise without the prior written permission of the
publisher.
Cover Photo: The Nile at Aswan, Egypt. Photo by Panopticom
Typeset by Ronald Kasule Senfuka

ISBN 978-9970-25-002-8
 Contents
Introduction.......................................................................5
Water, Politics and Agreements ......................................8
Water, Climate and Health.............................................15
Water, Biodiversity and Land Use ................................21
Water, Culture and Identity ...........................................29
Water, Knowledge and Universities .............................36
Water, Development and International Aid ...............43
Water for the Future .......................................................52
Nile Basin Research Programme,
Research Groups and Participants ...............................54
Selected Publications ......................................................63

3
Lake Nabugabo, Uganda
 .," .",. ""A,," ".GV'AU,

Introduction
Map of the Nile Basin countries

'•.

--
'-

The boundaries and names shown and the designation on this map do not imply the official recognition or
acceptance by the Nile Basin Research Programme

5
 The Nile Basin Research Programme (NBRP), as a strategic,
multidisciplinary programme for research and higher education on
topics related to the Nile Basin, has had the overall aim to enhance
and promote quality research on Nile-related issues and to support
research collaboration between institutions in the Nile Basin region.
It has provided interaction between researchers in the Nile region and
has given an opportunity for individual and collaborative research in
a fertile academic environment.
The first group of researchers came to Bergen in Norway in January
2007 and during the six semesters from January 2007 to December
2009 altogether 53 researchers from the Nile Basin region participated
in the programme as guest researchers in Bergen. Each semester had
a different topic emphasising Nile issues from different approaches
and perspectives.
In the following chapters a brief description of each semester’s
topics, research questions and some of the results will be presented.
These are only small and selected glimpses of the research conducted
and for more in-depth information on the scientific outputs from
the research programme, a selected bibliography of publications is
included at the end.
The confluence of the White and the
Blue Nile at Khartoum, Sudan

6
Tis Abbay
7 – The Blue Nile Falls in Ethiopia
 Water, Politics and Agreements
The River Nile has been considered by many as the most important
river in the world. It drains an area which covers about one tenth of
the African continent. The Nile Basin catchment area is shared between
ten countries: Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt,
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
The White Nile flows through large parts of equatorial Africa,
which enjoys considerable rainfall distributed the whole year, and it
runs through two large lakes, Victoria and Albert. Lake Victoria is the
world’s second-largest freshwater lake, with a surface area of 68,000
km2. The maximum depth of the lake is 80-90 m, the average depth is
40 m, and the lake has a volume of 2,760 km3. The lake is shared by
Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
The White Nile provides approximately 15% of the water to the Nile
whereas the Ethiopian tributaries (Abbay, Sobat and Atbara) together
contribute approximately 85% of the water in the Nile as measured
at Aswan in Egypt, where the total water of the Nile is annually on
average 84 billion cubic metres.

The Aswan dam, Egypt

8
 Around 370 million people are living in the Nile Basin countries
and approximately 200 million in the basin itself. It is estimated that
in 2030 around 600 million people will be living in the Nile Basin
countries. Water is already a scarce resource in parts of the basin and
with the projected population growth there will much higher stress on
this limited but vital resource for all countries and their inhabitants.
The ways in which the waters of the Nile will be distributed in the
future have global political consequences because it may be a source for
cooperation or conflict. The use and distribution of water will also be
fundamental to the development processes of the respective countries.
All states are dependent upon the Nile, but to various degrees.
Egypt is a downstream country located in a desert and it is totally
dependent upon the Nile. The Nile is literally the life-artery of the
country and it makes Egypt extremely vulnerable to changes in the
water supply. The country is listed among the top ten countries in the
world which will be most threatened by water shortage in the future.
Today, 98% of all Egypt’s freshwater come from the Nile. Since the
dawn of civilisation Egypt has used and been dependent upon the Nile,
and Egypt claims it has a historic right to use Nile waters. Moreover,
Egyptians argue that the upstream states have no tradition for use
and control of the Nile and they also have alternative water resources,
which Egypt does not have.
Most of the water in the Nile comes from Ethiopia. Each year
Ethiopia has 123 billion cubic meter of surface water, which equals
1,5 times the annual water of the Nile, but the country uses hardly any
of this water. Only 3% of the water remains in Ethiopia and the rest
flows to the neighbouring countries. Ethiopia is one of the poorest
countries in the world, where only 5% of the land suitable for irrigation
is developed, and its future prosperity is dependent upon utilisation
of more water resources. Emperor Haile Selassie emphasised this as

9
far back as the 1950s, when he also underlined the responsibility of
being an upstream country from where most of the Nile waters flow:
“[I]t is of paramount importance to Ethiopia, a problem of first order
that the waters of the Nile be made to serve the life and the needs
of our beloved people now living and those who will follow us in
centuries to come. However, generally, Ethiopia may be prepared to
share this tremendous God given wealth of hers with friendly nations
neighbouring upon her, for the life and welfare of their people”.
The use and distribution of the Nile waters among the ten countries
is a political question regulated by international laws. In 1959 Egypt and
Sudan signed the agreement For the Full Utilization of the Nile Waters.
This replaced the 1929 agreement, where Egypt and Britain (on behalf
of the East African colonies) negotiated the Nile Water Agreement,
which stated that “no irrigation or power works or measures are to
be constructed or taken on the River Nile and its branches, or on the
lakes from which it flows…in such a manner as to entail any prejudice
to the interests of Egypt, either reduce the quantity of water arriving
in Egypt, or modify the date of its arrival, or lower its level”.
Sudan is in a middle position between the upstream and downstream
states, and all the main tributaries – the White, the Blue and the Atbara –
flow through the country. In the 1959 agreement all the water in the Nile
was divided between Egypt and Sudan. Of the average 84 billion cubic
metres that flow along the Nile each year, according to the agreement,
Egypt should receive 55,5 billion cubic metres and Sudan 18,5 billion
cubic metres, and the rest disappears through evaporation.
This has always been a controversial issue and raises many questions.
To what extent is agreements made during the colonial times still
valid today? Are water agreements made by two countries binding for
the other countries which were excluded from the negotiations? Can
downstream states deny upstream states the right to use water flowing

10
 Cover of the book The River Nile in
the Post-Colonial Age
through their countries? And can
upstream states deny downstream
states the use of Nile waters? Can
alternative water resources be used
and developed in other Nile Basin
countries, and if this is possible,
are downstream countries willing to
finance part of this development since
the latter will benefit from using more
Nile water?
The 1959 agreement is disputed
by the other Nile Basin countries. The
agreement was made before all of the
countries had become independent, and
today they all agree that the sanction
of using Nile waters has hindered their
development. A new agreement is now being negotiated. The aim
is to finalise the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA). The
Cooperative Framework Agreement is a proposed international
treaty, which will lay down principles of cooperative water resources
management among all the countries sharing the River Nile. The way
the Nile issue is solved will shape not only the ten Nile Basin countries,
but it will have implications beyond the region.
The research group reconstructed, by empirical studies, the
historical development of Nile utilisation in the different countries
and analysed the relative importance and role of Nile water for the
countries’ development in relation to utilisation of other available water
resources. The respective countries have various uses and needs of the
river and are dependent upon the Nile to different degrees, which can

11
 be illustrated with some examples from the book The River Nile in the
Post-Colonial Age.
“Burundi, like other upstream countries of the Nile basin, did not
consider itself bound by colonial-era treaties. In any case, Burundi has
never felt any pressure in the management of the waters of the Nile,
either from the British or from any other foreign power. As a country
where agriculture depends almost entirely on rainfall, Burundi posed no
threat to the flow of the Nile, and the need to subscribe to regulation
of the Nile outflow through treaties and conventions hardly arose”.
“Political rhetoric that blames the two Nile agreements for the
sorry state of affairs in the Kenyan Nile basin displays ignorance of
socio-economic and political changes that demand a new look at the
availability, utilization and management of water in the basin and
elsewhere in Kenya. Other factors – population growth, consumption
practices and patterns, diversion of water resources, climatic and
environmental conditions, and rainfall patterns – have changed so much
since the late 1950s that areas that once had adequate rainfall no longer

Bujagali Falls, Uganda 12

do so. The Kenyan population living within the basin depends on land
and water resources; western Kenya has great potential, but is ironically
the home of Kenya’s poorest population. The Egyptian–Sudanese Nile
agreements do not stand in the way of such development: the water
and land resources in the region are under-used and mismanaged”.
“Uganda is more interested in the uninterrupted flow of water into
Lake Victoria to support her hydropower production at Owen Falls,
Kiira and other future hydropower dams…The decreased water level
is impacting negatively on the fishery, tourism and water transport
industries in the Lake Victoria basin and may affect basinwide activities
negatively in future”.
These quotes emphasise the complexity of uses and different
dependencies and aims for utilisation of water resources, which may
not necessarily contradict each other or cause the same consequences.
“Societies along the Nile are neither equally capable of harming
their common resource nor equally likely to suffer the consequences
of others’ behaviour, not only because some live upstream and others

Lake Edward, Uganda

13
 downstream, but also because individual action need not negatively
affect other actors”.
However, “There is no simple institutional solution to the collective
action problem in the Nile basin, and no ready-made model that can
be copied. This book has highlighted multiple modes of conflict and
cooperation surrounding the use and management of the Nile, along
with the temporal and spatial scales and the dialectic character of
societal development and the physical character of the river system – all
factors that are central to an understanding of the relationship between
the actors within the basin and of the history of the whole region”.

• The river Nile is shared by ten countries.

• By 2030 the population within the Nile Basin countries will
have increased to around 600 million people and there will be
more pressure on the water resources.
• In 1959 Egypt and Sudan signed the agreement For the Full
Utilization of the Nile Waters, which divided all the water
between themselves.
• What will be optimal use of the basin’s water resources?
• Will the Nile be a source to cooperation in the future?

14
Cracked ground as a result of drought
 Water, Climate and Health
Nature, as perceived by humans, is to a large extent different
waterscapes: Different environments, whether it is deserts, savannas,
tropical forests or arctic areas, are water-worlds or waterscapes, which
change in accordance to seasons and climatic variables. Following the
hydrological cycle, the effect on water availability makes precipitation
the climate element with greatest socioeconomic importance for all
ten countries in the region.
The characteristics and the dependence on rainfall differ greatly
within the region. The precipitation is seasonal and the months of peak
are different from area to area. In the Egyptian desert all life depends
upon the Nile and the seasonal rains in upstream countries. In Ethiopia,
Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda the climate and aridity conditions vary
from high-potential highlands with sufficient rains to semi deserts.
These overall water-worlds constantly change in both long- and
short-term perspectives. Climate change is often perceived and
presented as long-term changes, but for humans these changes are
also experienced as dramatic short-term events, such as prolonged
droughts or sudden floods. Climate change and differences in the
water-worlds have crucial importance for the type of water that is the
life-giving water in a given community. If the water-worlds change,
then the physical premises for life change. If the rain fails, it may lead
to massive human suffering because of drought.

15
 Globally, during times of climate change, the most urgent questions
relate to whether there will be more droughts or more floods and where
these natural phenomena will take place. Will the melting of glaciers
increase the sea levels, and will human constructions to ensure sufficient
and safe water supply, such as dams, pipes and drainage systems, be
sufficient when the water-world changes?
The overall climate questions for the Nile Basin countries are: Will
there be more or less rain and will there be more or less water in the
river Nile? The Indian Ocean is an important climatic parameter for
the Nile Basin, including the whole of East Africa. Studies suggest that
the Indian Ocean is becoming warmer, and thus it is fundamental to
know how the precipitation variability with or without Indian Ocean
warming will affect the Nile Basin region.
Precipitation information is ultimately the input which can be
used for planning and management of the Nile as a fresh-water
resource. Moreover, the impacts of climate change on Nile flows will
vary depending upon the location of the different sub-basins with
subsequently more serious consequences in some regions compared
to others.
Climate change and changes in precipitation patterns will have
context-dependent and regional consequences. Some areas may be
favoured or not affected too much by these changes whereas, in other
areas, the very same changes may have dramatic and devastating
impacts. Changes in the rain pattern will have less consequences in
Ethiopia than in Egypt since the latter country is totally dependent
upon the waters in the Nile.
A research group compared and analysed a unique set of data with
important implications for the future. The researchers made predictions
of the amount of water in the Blue Nile. The outputs of 17 general
circulation models were analysed. Global Circulation Models (GCMs)

16
are commonly considered to be the best method to analyse future
climate scenarios. GCMs work fairly well on global and continental
scales, but often fail to simulate climate scenarios on a regional scale,
which is required for integrated water resources management. However,
based on the analyses conducted it was possible to provide a fine-scale
hydrological model of the Nile Basin and a water scenario for the
2081-2098 period was proposed.
The upper Blue Nile basin covers an area of ca. 185,000 km2. The
sub-basin is characterised by a highly seasonal rain pattern. The mean
annual rainfall is generally between 1,200-1,300 mm, and more than
70% of this rain falls during the four-months rainy season from June
to September. How much water there is in the Nile depends upon
three factors: 1) the annual precipitation, 2) runoff, and 3) evaporation,
which is temperature sensitive.
The analyses focused on the impacts of climate change on the flows
of the upper Blue Nile at Diem, since about 60% of the annual flow
of the Nile at Dongola comes from here. Based on the GCMs there
is no consensus with regards to the direction of precipitation change.
The models show changes in the annual precipitation ranging between
minus 15% and plus 14%. However, more models suggest decreases
than increases. Taking all the models together, they show almost no
change in the annual rainfall and only a slight reduction of minus 2,4%
in the wet season.
In the same time period it is predicted by all models, based on the
predicted increase of CO2 in the atmosphere, that the temperature
will increase by between 2°C and 5°C. With increased temperature and
evaporation there will be less runoff and less water in the Nile, which
moves the basin to a more moisture-constrained regime.
Even with increased rainfall the actual amount of water in the
Nile may be less due to increased evaporation. Thus, the amount of

17
 water in the Nile is highly sensitive to changes in both precipitation
and evaporation. The ensemble mean annual runoff due to increased
temperature is therefore reduced by about 3,5%. This has severe
consequences for the flow of the Nile and may result in 15% reduction
of the annual flow at Diem compared to today’s baseline. However,
since the Nile is highly sensitive to rainfall patterns and since the
models for predicting future precipitation change are not robust, this
estimate has to be interpreted and used with care. Moreover, how
climate change will impact on Nile flows will vary depending on the
location of the studied sub-basin, and some sub-basins may also receive
more water than others. Therefore, there are uncertainties with models
predicting future climate scenarios and how much water there will be
in the Nile.
Climate change affects and changes the actual water-world, which
has direct consequences for people’s lives and health. In today’s world,
with its 6,5 billion people, it is estimated that over 1,5 billion people lack
access to safe water supplies, 2,5 billions lack adequate sanitation and
more than one third of the growing urban population in developing
countries live in slums. It is said, “Water is life; sanitation is dignity”,
and the lack of adequate sanitation is the world’s largest killer. The
consequence is that, worldwide, some 10,000 people die each day of

The anopheles mosquito

which transmits malaria

18
 Cattle in
Uganda
malaria and water-borne diseases like dysentery, choleraa
and various diarrhoeal diseases.
The relation between two vector-borne diseases
and climate were analysed: malaria and cattle–tick-
borne disease. Malaria is ranked as the number-one
disease in terms of morbidity, mortality and lost
productivity. In Sudan, malaria is endemic and
climatic conditions relating to temperature,
precipitation and relative humidity affect
the development of mosquitoes
and malaria parasites. Thus, the
spread of malaria is most likely
affected by climate change and
the control of malaria is therefore
seen as a serious challenge due to
global warming.
In this case study in Sudan,
high temperatures during the
rainy season led to rapid population increase of malaria mosquitoes,
and prolonged high temperatures sustained the larval development.
However, maximum temperatures in water, above 33°C, reduced the
number of larva drastically. Humidity is also a crucial factor. The
infection rate increases substantially as humidity increases, and the
risk of malaria at 80% humidity is twice the risk at 60% humidity. A
combination of the climatic factors temperature, precipitation and
relative humidity explains between 39-54% of the changes in the
spread of malaria whereas the rest is explained by other, non-climatic
variables, such as increased drug resistance.
Another disease of global importance is cattle-tick-borne disease.
In Mbarara district of western Uganda there was a positive correlation

19
between climate variability and the spread of the disease. Increased
rainfall and humidity led to increased incidence of the disease.
Fluctuations in precipitation patterns had significant impact on the
disease, although this was not the only variable of importance. Other
factors, such as temperature, vegetation cover, types of husbandry
and crops, and population density also influence the spread of cattle-
tick-borne diseases.
Thus, changes in rainfall patterns have numerous dramatic
consequences for the Nile Basin region. The amount of water in
the Nile is the result of the amount of rain in relation to runoff and
evaporation. The spread of diseases such as malaria and cattle-tick-
borne fever is also affected by rainfall, temperature and humidity. These
physical parameters create ecological premises which are altered by
human interaction with the environment, but biodiversity and species
richness are affected more directly by human land use than by changing
climate variables.

• Climate change manifests in different water-worlds with

effects such as floods or droughts, causing human suffering
and death.
• Water-borne diseases present a major threat to health on the
African continent and the diseases are affected by climate
change.
• With global warming the Nile Basin will move to a more
moisture-constrained regime.
• Understanding the precipitation patterns is important for
planning and management of the Nile.
• There are uncertainties with models predicting future climate
scenarios and how much water there will be in the Nile.

20
Water, Biodiversity and Land Use
Water and food are the two most fundamental necessities for human
life. Without either of them humans soon die. It is not possible to grow
anything without water and droughts are the direct consequence of the
absence or too little water. Farmers need a specific type of water at a
particular time for their crops. If agriculture depends upon seasonal
rains or the annual flood, it is of utmost importance that it comes at
the right time and in the right amount. Too much water at the wrong
time of year is as devastating as too little water when it is really needed,
and it may lead to crop failures and subsequently famines. Farming is
obviously very sensitive to the water-world, and the ecological diversity
and uneven dependence upon the Nile as the only source or one of
several bodies of water create different opportunities and restrictions
for agriculture. With a global food security crisis looming, the way the
land is used has fundamental consequences for how this challenge will
be handled with regards to both humans and biodiversity.
The Nile Basin consists of a number of ecological zones between
two extreme opposites: the rainforest in the DRC and the Sahara desert,
which receives almost no rain. Some regions receive most or exclusively
all of their water from the Nile, while others receive most of the water
from rain, or from a combination of water sources. Still, it is the water
in the Nile which links the otherwise different ecological zones together.
It is the rains in the DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda
and Ethiopia which provide the Nile with water so the river can flow
and give life to barren and desert areas in Sudan and Egypt.
Climate change affects the overall water-world. Some places become
drier and experience more droughts whereas others are more regularly
flooded or experience more fluctuations in precipitation patterns.
These are overall climatic premises, but there are also human factors.

21
 The richness of species depends partly on climate variables such as
temperature and rainfall patterns, but also on human activities and how
they interact with the environment. Human actions and how people
practice agriculture impact on nature, water resources and landscapes.
By introducing species and animals which are more robust than others
or demanding less labour, the ecology changes.
The Sahel zone is climatically very hot and dry, but it has still the
highest population growth in the world. The climate in northern Sudan
is arid and semi-arid in many areas. Pastoralism is the main land use
and it has changed the vegetation from open woodland to a very open
shrubland. Goats are today the dominant animal kept, together with
sheep. In some areas increased grazing has reduced the number of
plants, but arid grazing land is in general very persistent. Hardwood

22
Pastoralism on the Serengeti, Tanzania
trees and other cash-generating plants are cut and sold, and trees are
disappearing from the land due to charcoal production. In areas with
high population growth and increased need for houses, wood is used
for domestic purposes, such as fuel. Due to the impact of human
land use the vegetation may lose its unique identity and become more
homogeneous.
New plant species are often introduced in marginal lands to prevent
land degradation and to provide new means of livelihood for the
residents. Some of the species have been very successful and spread
rapidly to new areas. An Acacia-like tree type was introduced in Sudan
from Mexico, which is resistant to drought and was seen as a way to
combat desertification and as a source of fuel. However, the presence
of this invasive tree in new environments has had a negative effect on

23
Murchison Falls, Uganda
the other vegetation and the species richness. When humans introduce
in ecosystems species and organisms from other continents, it may
result in unforeseen consequences.
Changes in land use are often a consequence of growing population
and urbanisation, leading to new challenges. In the lower Kihansi River
Gorge in Tanzania a dam was constructed in the late 1990s and water
from the river was diverted to the hydro-power station. This resulted
in decreased river flow and the wetlands downstream became drier.
The direct consequence was a change in plant species composition. An
endangered and endemic frog became almost extinct, though it was
saved by introducing a sprinkler system on the wetlands. Water supply
and electricity generates prosperity for humans, but it may easily change
the living conditions for certain endangered species which, in the long
run, may have negative impact on society.
Constructions of dams have different consequences for the
environment. The Turkwel Gorge Dam in north-western Kenya had
minor consequences for the grazing land below the dam although there
were drastic changes in the river flow regime. Although the number of
one endemic tree species was reduced significantly, in this case there
were few ecological changes with the introduction of the power-station.
Thus, development and industrialisation may not necessarily impact
negatively on the environment.
Some Nile Basin countries encourage industrialisation as a means
to reduce poverty. In Uganda the government has over the last two
decades put in place mechanisms which encourage investment in
numerous business enterprises. In order to achieve this goal two urban
forest reserves have been turned into industrial parks. The development
processes and industrialisation, in many cases, take place at the expense
of the biodiversity, affecting the vegetation, birds and small mammals.
The increased human impact on landscapes threatens the species

25
 richness and one way to combine the need for development and the
biodiversity is to maintain some green areas within industrial parks.
Rwanda is often called the “green belt” because of its rich
biodiversity and abundant forests, which are green throughout the
year. However, in tropical highland regions, natural factors cause the
soil to become weathered, fragile and acid, and together with cropping
systems with low-input use, the soil fertility and the biodiversity are
reduced. Recycling of the vegetation may, on the other hand, restore
the soil fertility. After the cropping season the quality of the soil is
renewed with the right use of green compost. Increased pressure on
resources where the aim is to achieve greater yield from each crop may
decrease the quality of the land, but by ample means it is possible to
achieve sustainable agriculture.

Agriculture in Rwanda

26
 Land use is closely related to water use. Varying amounts of
precipitation and where and when rain falls define agricultural practices.
Water is a prerequisite for food production, but the water itself is a
source of food and life. In the great lakes, such as Victoria, Albert,
George, Edward and Tana, together with all the tributaries forming
the Nile, fish has always been a natural and important resource. The
waterways provide people with important minerals and vitamins, but the
fish species are highly vulnerable to human pollution and overfishing.
Sources of water are often seen as places where wastes and toxins
can be disposed of resulting in extinction of fish and aquatic species.
The Nile perch was introduced in Lake Victoria in the 1950s and it
has become an export commodity for the countries around the lake.
However, human pollution such as sewage and fertilizers has reduced
the rich diversity of fish in Lake Victoria.
The relation between water and land use shows the complex and
difficult relationship between humans and the environment. All human
activities have consequences for the environment. Changes in the water-
worlds influence the environment and species richness. Introduction
of new species may solve some problems, but at the same time create
new ones, which may be more serious than the original ones.
Due to population growth there will increased pressure on natural
and water resources. Climate change may worsen the situation, but
human land use at a local level, such as use of forests, agricultural
systems and construction of dams and reservoirs, has a greater effect
on the actual environment and the biodiversity than climate change.
Thus, when humans exert greater pressure on ecosystems, the
impacts include habitat loss and changes in the nutrient cycling. Many
ecosystems of high conservation value have developed under long-term
low-intensity land use. The halting or discontinuity of these practices
is therefore a major threat to the conservation of these ecosystems.

27
 • The Nile Basin consists of a number of ecological zones from
rainforests to deserts.
• Human land use has a stronger and more immediate impact on
the environment than climate change.
• Deforestation, agricultural systems and construction of dams
increase the pressure on ecosystems.
• The variation and composition of life forms within an
ecosystem are influenced by humans and the richness of species
is threatened.
• Good water management can conserve ecosystems benefiting
humans and the biodiversity.

28
Transport on the Nile, Sudan
 Water, Culture and Identity
Water is not only a physical substance, biological necessity or scarce
resource, but it is also an intrinsic part of peoples’ identities, cultures,
worldviews, and for devotees it includes religious perceptions of
themselves and the “otherworld” or the life thereafter. The social,
cultural, ideological and religious roles of water include identities
ranging from personal perceptions and gender relations to rainmaking
and fertility rites for the benefit of the whole society, as well as
perceptions of cosmological realms and religious beliefs. Peoples’
ideas of themselves and their waters in the various water-worlds are
not restricted and limited to national identities, but include a range of
ecological zones transcending national borders.
Life-giving water is in a special category of water
because it highlights humans’ essential need
for a specific type of water at a
particular time, whether it is for
religious purposes, agriculture
or daily survival. What the crucial
and life-giving water is and why, is
dependent upon, but not limited to,
different organisations of societies,
modes of subsistence or agricultural
practices. The climate, the topography and
the hydrological cycle – ecological variables
which are beyond the control of humans but
which they have to react upon – create diverse
water-worlds where not only the amount of
water, but also the type of water, varies. Both the

Cover of the book Water,

29 Culture and Identity
amount of water and how it annually reoccurs as rain, rivers, lakes and
oases, influence and affect the way water is incorporated into people’s
lives and worldviews. Consequently, the ways the various water-worlds
or waterscapes are used practically, interpreted symbolically and given
values to according to local and regional traditions and norms are
a result of humans’ continuous mediation of cultural and natural
variables.
Traditionally, at the household level collecting water has been the
task of women, thus creating gender relations but also relations and
divisions between women of different ages. The seasonal agricultural
cycle is dependent upon when the life-giving waters occur, structuring
the whole community by collective practices including the sowing and
the harvesting of the crops as well as the type and amount of husbandry
possible. In traditional societies it was often the leader’s responsibility to
ensure and provide sufficient water for the welfare of the people, and
the procurement of the life-giving water involved religious ceremonies
such as rainmaking or rituals securing the Nile’s annual inundation.
The chieftain or king was also often held responsible if the life-giving
water failed to appear with the consequence of harvest failure or famine
and possible death. The arrival of the first water was celebrated with
religious festivals as well as other celebrations related to the agricultural
cycle, and water rituals are part of many world religions.
Water holds deep religious values. Religions and divinities can be
understood through water symbolism and cosmological realms can be
expressed and defined by the gods, as perceived by humans, through
water. Water is considered to be holy, as it represents the material
element of the spiritual core of religion. In many religions practiced
in the Nile Basin, from the ancient Egyptians’ pharaonic cosmology
to Christianity and Islam’s rivers of Eden, cosmos is either made from
primeval waters or links or unites the divine realms to this world.

30
Thus, water or parts of the water in the hydrological cycle belong to
the divine realms; either linking gods to humans or serving as media
by which humans can reach their gods. Humans’ perceptions of water
in religion influence how, why and which water can be used in what
manner, and it affects peoples’ actions and responses to changes in
waterscapes, because water or certain types of bodies of water is often
seen as a divine gift.
Gish Abay, the source of the Blue Nile which flows into Lake Tana,
is considered by Christians and Muslims to be the heavenly river Gihon,
one of the four rivers in paradise. The Christians use this holy water
for healing and blessing, and the source is a pilgrimage site. Along the
Blue Nile indigenous practices involving sacrifice of oxen and other
animals to the river still prevail, and Christians have also made sacrifices
to the river. The most important religious festival in Ethiopia is Timkat
or the epiphany celebrating the baptism of Jesus.
Far from the Blue Nile’s source, in the rainforest of DRC hunters
and gatherers live traditional lives depending upon what nature offers.
In this water-world of rain and dependence on the river, fluctuations in
precipitation create seasonal variations; the rainfall pattern determines
when they can hunt, gather and fish. As a water people and considered
as the finest fishermen, the river has a central place in initiation rituals
which mark the change from childhood to manhood. The culture is
defined by water.
In many areas people’s lives are dependent upon that the seasonal
rains come at the right time. In traditional African societies rainmaking
has been a fundamental part of culture and religion. The rainmaker
has been a medium between the gods and the ancestors providing
the life-giving waters. Rainmaking has been a fundamental part of
societies with varying complexity, from hunter-gatherers to divine
kingdoms. In Rwanda and Burundi rainmaking is related to rock-art

31
The source of the Blue Nile in Ethiopia32where devotees collect holy water
33
among marginalised hunters and gatherers. In Tanzania conflicts arose
between traditional rainmakers and a state-initiated project, where
the government invited rainmakers from Thailand to fill the biggest
national dam, as the local rainmakers are allegedly unable to work at a
national level. In Lake Turkana in Kenya climate change and droughts
influence rainmaking rituals among pastoralists.
The archaeology of Sudan, from Neolithic prehistory to modern
times, illustrates different societies depending on rivers and rain for
their subsistence. However, it is not only agriculturalists that have been
dependent upon the Nile for their economy. The Nile has, throughout
history, been a highway for transportation and towns have been built
along the river’s shores. Thus, the river has created different economic
possibilities and shaped ideologies.
The cultural history of the Nile has made it the most famous river in
the world. Classical Greek and Roman writers had enormous admiration
for the Nile. The Syrian writer Heliodorus wrote that the Nile is “the
father of Egypt”, Diodorus said that “The Nile surpasses all the rivers
of the inhabited world in the benefactions to humanity,” Arnobius
proclaimed that the Nile is “the greatest of rivers”, and Herodotus
said the famous words: “Egypt is the gift of the Nile”.
The Nile was the artery of life in Ancient Egypt. The living King and
Pharaoh was Horus, and when he died he became Osiris, the King of
the Nether World. Osiris also appeared as the divine power immanent
within the Nile, and particularly within the waters of the flood. A low
Nile implied the disappearance of the god and this was mourned,
while the coming of the flood represented Osiris’ revitalisation and
restoration. When the Nile was inundated the event was celebrated
with great festivals.
Apart from the Egyptian civilisation, from an archaeological
perspective the most important role of the Nile has to be seen in
relation to agriculture, the development of pottery and the use of
34
aquatic resources. The earliest pottery in Africa is found in the region
of the Sahara and the Sahel and along the Nile in central Sudan; the
pottery is more than 10,000 years old. The exploitation of rich aquatic
resources in the Nile Valleys goes back 25,000-40,000 years. Thus,
cultures and civilisations emerged along the shores of the Nile.
Ideas of water have had and still are part of peoples’ identities and
core value systems in past and present regional traditions, societies and
religions in the Nile Basin region. Water in itself is used to express
meaning and define social relations and cultural aspects. Different
and changing water environments and water-worlds have impacted on
traditions, cultures and religions and created identities, social values and
religious beliefs. Which types of waters have been absent and present,
or in which combinations they have occurred at a given time, have been
incorporated into society and belief systems.
In the past as well in the present the Nile and the different water-
worlds have had impact on the development of social organisations and
ritual practices. The role of water in development processes will be of
even more importance in the Nile Basin region in the future.

• Ideas about and beliefs in water are important parts of culture

and religion.
• People’s lives are based on the life-giving water that shapes their
identities and traditions.
• All societies, from the earliest societies to the major civilisations,
have been organised around water.
• The types of water and the presence and absence of rain and
rivers have been given different values in societies.
• Understanding the role of water in traditions may improve and
optimalise future water management.

35
Water, Knowledge and Universities
Knowledge of water in society, culture and nature is important for
understanding development processes in the Nile Basin countries.
This obvious statement opens up a huge area of uncertainties and
difficulties, because without understanding different knowledge regimes
it may lead to devastating consequences in the Nile Basin region. What
is knowledge and what are universities? These are not philosophical
questions but relate directly to how knowledge can be used to improve
society in the face of the predicted water scarcity.
Today, there is no common agreed definition of what a university is
and there are a vast number of institutions called universities. To indicate
variations in research and quality, the term “Research University” or
“Flagship University” has developed referring to institutions where
knowledge production and research take place, distinguishing these
universities from private universities and universities without a research
component, which only conduct teaching and education.
The research university serves many purposes and involves a number
of activities, which all are held together and given value by being science.
Research universities define what “reality” is and consider some realities
to be scientifically more valid and valued than other realities. However,
the research university in many countries in Africa is in crisis because of
privatisation of universities, too many students, civil war, religious and
political control, lack of funding, lack of public support and absence
of belief in indigenous knowledge.
Research and higher education have historically been strongly linked
to the nation state as a project of modernisation. The university is
therefore in a paradoxical situation. On the one hand, it is dependent
upon the state for finance. On the other hand, a research university
has to be independent of the state and have an institutional autonomy,

36
academic freedom and freedom of speech, which cannot be upheld if
the university has to serve dictatorial regimes.
Hence, in an ideal world, the university is a public institution where
the state is the guardian of its autonomy, which includes funding and
academic freedom, and because of this, the university is also dependent
upon that the state is relatively autonomous from groups such as
elites or parties seeking to use the state for their own benefit, because
otherwise the university may not maintain its autonomy. This condition
is best favoured by democracy.
Knowledge itself does not necessarily lead to democracy and
tolerance, and democracy does not automatically follow from
development. Democracy disperses power in society, the powerless get
power and protection from misuse of power, and it creates possibilities
to influence important decisions. Democracy does not emerge from
development because elites are educated at “flagship” universities
as such, but because there are governmental institutions securing
power distribution. When an increasing percentage of a population
is getting higher education, knowledge and power are diffused to the
masses and thereby changing society and contributing to processes of
democratisation.

The Mahmoud Salih Collection at

the University of Bergen, which is a
unique book collection on the Sudan
containing about 2000 books

37
 Politics and knowledge are intrinsically linked together in what may
be called a knowledge regime. On the one hand, a knowledge regime
can be defined as how political and knowledge institutions relate to each
other defining a country’s knowledge sphere and need of knowledge
since the research university is generally a political project created by
the state. However, universities and politicians may not share the same
visions regarding knowledge production. Therefore, on the other hand,
a knowledge regime is also shaped by how universities act in relation
to the nation state project.
In many countries science is good when it benefits society whereas
in the West science is good when it benefits science and the aim is to
seek “knowledge for its own sake.” These two opposite views regarding
the rationale for the existence of universities have different political and
scientific consequences, with implications for social development.

Université de Kinshasa, Congo 38

 When the educational system develops, it transforms society and the
social structure by creating a middle class, which historically has been
important in the process of democratisation. However, the challenge
is how a knowledge society can work in a region where only 5% of
the population have higher education and the knowledge needs for
development are linked to the working and agricultural classes, often
dominated by women.
How a knowledge regime may benefit society depends upon
political decisions: should it benefit everybody, or the elite, the middle
class or the working class? Which parts of the public sphere are the
university expected to contribute to and what relation should there
be between a research university and the formation of democratic
citizenship? In other words, what does it mean that a research university
has social obligations towards the general public? Most often there
will be conflicting interests regarding these questions, and the way

Makerere University in
Uganda, which is now
the host of NBRP’s
regional office

39
universities are organised impact dramatically on how science can
benefit society.
With the establishments of private universities all over Africa as
part of globalisation and internationalisation, the universities aim to
make profit. As part of this process, a mechanical and positivist view
of knowledge has been institutionalised. Knowledge and expertise
can be imported as packages produced by the international education
business. Curriculums and books are seen as “context free” representing
“objective knowledge,” and this paradigm sends a message to political
authorities that they do not need to develop their own research
institutions and knowledge base, but buy it where it is available.
This may lead to a serious degradation of research universities and
independent knowledge production. It represents reproduction and not
production of knowledge. In the end, this is a kind of global, cultural
imperialism, which creates new problems.
When students have got their education “overseas”, often the
knowledge has to be recreated when they arrive back in their respective
countries. Although global and comparative perspectives are crucial
for the renewal and creativity of research universities, it is important
for the development and modernisation of a country that knowledge
grows out of local and regional contexts.
Since no knowledge is objectively given and development problems
are context dependent, it is fundamental for a country’s future that
it has its own research universities conducting independent research
defined by the researchers themselves.
Knowledge is a powerful human capital which transforms society;
it is a condition for economic growth, planning and development, and
for socialising and institutionalising people. Knowledge is power, and
politics is about achieving, maintaining and using power to defend
the regime. A knowledge regime is therefore constantly in a position

40
of competition over power and a relation of trust. With modernity
knowledge is believed to be trustworthy because it has a relative
autonomy from politics.
Trust is a mutual relation. Governments need to trust the research
universities and give them academic freedom limiting political
interference in the research process, and society has to trust that
the knowledge produced is scientific and unbiased. This balance
between knowledge and politics is historically best maintained through
institutionalisation of democratic values.
Thus, the relations between knowledge and politics are manifold.
The kind of research that is conducted is not objectively given, but
is a product of a number of social and political factors. Knowledge
cannot be seen apart from the context in which it is created. In Nile
Basin countries where research universities exist, they are organised in
a number of ways with specific unique traits, which relate to former
colonial rule, how the state was formed, level of internal structure,
cultural and political traditions, and the dependency of the marked
vs. the state.
The future development of the Nile Basin region will be impacted
by the ways universities and higher education are organised and it
is therefore important to understand the conditions and premises
for knowledge production in order to evaluate the outcomes of the
different knowledge regimes.
However, the research university has a very difficult time in most
of the Nile Basin countries, which is a consequence of both external
and internal forces, and how they combine. In some of the Nile Basin
countries it is hard to see how a research university can emerge, and it
is therefore of utmost importance that the constructive factors which
may enhance future Nile networking and cooperation across borders
are emphasised. Unless the research university emerges, a unique

41
 opportunity to create a cross-national dialogue for solving urgent issues
in the Nile region in the future will be forfeited.

• The research university in many African countries is in crisis.

• Private universities working for profit undermine the
development of intellectual traditions and original knowledge
production.
• The development of the Nile Basin region is dependent
upon independent research on particular and context-specific
questions and problems.
• Scientific knowledge has to be shared within the Nile Basin
region to solve future challenges.
• Reshaping the research university is a difficult and slow
process.

Lake Victoria

42
 Water, Development and
International Aid
The international aid system is, undoubtedly, a very powerful and
enduring structural force impacting on institutional and policy
development in Nile Basin countries. In many countries the aid system
finances the bulk of development interventions, shapes institutional
arrangements, frames policy alternatives, and provides mediating
structure(s) for conflict resolution. In other countries the aid system’s
influence is more marginal. Nevertheless, its concepts, institutions,
administrative arrangements and fiscal resources help shape the most
critical aspects of development and politics.
The aid system in the Nile Basin can be analysed as a new type
of international social system, but with entirely new characteristics:

43
conceptually and normatively concentrated around dominant ideas
relating to development, democracy, human rights, gender equality,
sustainability etc.; institutionalised in an economic context of gift
economy; and politically organised as a balancing act between donor/
receiver relationships and “partnership”. The system has played a very
important role not only in identifying and establishing development
aid and the dominant development discourse, but also, due to its
different forms of economic, political, conceptual and moral capital,
it has impacted on issues related to sustainability, resource policies,
and democratic development – in largely yet unknown ways in the
Nile Basin.
The aim of this research group was not primarily to ask whether or
not aid “works”, or in which cases it does, but to inquire into how the
international aid system influences, and is influenced by, the national and
regional political agendas of Nile Basin countries. The aim was to review
and analyse dominant views on development aid, democratisation etc,
and to question how these issues are conceptualised and problematised
within the international aid system itself.
Thus, the aim was to improve the understanding of this system
and how it functions and relates to the Nile Basin countries, and to
the discourse on sustainability, poverty, democratisation, resource
politics, peace and conflict in the region. The approach of the group
departed from the dominant research tradition on the aid system in two
important areas; first in that the aid system was analysed as a whole; i.e.
the linkages and connections between the multilateral organisations,
the bilateral organisations, NGOs and Nile Basin states, and second,
how they influence each other and are related to the external world.
Based on new empirical research and the collection of new data, some
case studies may illustrate such relations.

44
 Like many African countries, Rwanda has been politically,
economically and culturally dominated by its former colonial powers
even after independence. Since the colonial era the foreign aid in the
education sector can be seen as having favoured the donors rather than
the Rwandan people. The Belgians used aid in education to create a
type of local elite which helped them to increase their colonial power.
The main aim of French aid in the education sector was to enhance
French culture in Rwanda through the French language, and Rwanda
was part of France’s zone of influence. Today, the United Kingdom
is the dominant aid donor in the education sector. The motivation
for UK’s involvement does not differ much from that of the French.
When Rwanda decided to anglicise education and administration, this
decision was influenced by the United Kingdom, which helped Rwanda
to join the Commonwealth Community.
The international aid system’s relations to governments take
different forms. It has been estimated that African countries annually
lose as much as 25% of their GDP to corruption. Uganda is listed as
one of the most corrupt countries in the world, losing about US $300
million each year due to corruption and bad investments. Corruption
has been identified as a major reason for the faltering reforms and
donors allocated resources for civil society anticorruption initiatives.
The combination of assistance and pressure from donors led to
the promulgation of laws and specialised institutions for handling
corruption. Anticorruption civil society organisations working to stop
corruption have achieved some results against lower-level and petty
corruption, but it has been difficult to achieve results at regional and
national levels. Among the ruling elites there has been a lack of political
will to end corruption and the government seems to have turned a
“blind-eye” towards the problem. Moreover, the ruling elite has had

45
strong control of the major state institutions and often uses the law
and state resources to co-opt or suppress counter-corruption forces
like advocacy and anticorruption NGOs.
In Eritrea the governmental relations with NGOs and the
international aid system are guided by the policy of self reliance and
independence. NGOs are not allowed to operate with funding from
bilateral donors and the UN system, and Eritrea’s aim is that the country
should not fall into the aid-dependency syndrome where relations
with NGOs are determined by donor influences. Eritrea only accepts
international aid which is apolitical and seen as relevant for solving real
problems as defined by the government. Thus, the country is refusing
aid which perpetuates dependence. As a consequence, international aid
is limited and it does not play a determinant role in the development
processes of the country.
Ethiopia is one of the Sub-Saharan African countries which receive
significant aid, which accounts for ca. 12% of the GDP. Ethiopia’s
food security is constantly dependent upon foreign aid, which provides
10-15% of the annual food the country needs in normal years and up
to 25% in periods of bad harvests. This means that between 5 and 6
million people are constantly living in danger of hunger and they are
totally dependent upon foreign aid for their survival.
Disaster relief has been important in averting major humanitarian
disasters. This has resulted in a general belief that for Ethiopia to break
out of its “poverty-trap” and to achieve long-term and sustainable
development, the role and the importance of foreign development
aid is crucial. However, the lack of an adequate aid resource policy
influences and contributes to the perennial food security problems
in Ethiopia. The problem has been the management of the different
forms of aid at the lower level of the administrative hierarchy as well as
institutional instability and improper investments. Without appropriate

46
 47
The Merowe dam, Sudan
management practices, development policies and institutional reforms,
this will increase future vulnerability and the deepening dependence on
externally financed relief operations runs the risk of institutionalising
unsustainable practices.
Sudan has often suffered from floods and droughts, even though
it has about 80 million ha of fertile land. The country has an urgent
need for Nile water resources for irrigation and hydropower, which
will enable industrial projects in Northern Sudan and provide
Khartoum with electricity. In order to develop the country, the Merowe
Hydropower Dam was built at the Fourth Cataract. The Merowe Dam,
which is also called the Pearl of the Nile, was inaugurated in 2008.
Due to the political regime in Sudan, from 1997 Western aid has
dried up. Western aid is accompanied by pressure for economic and
political reforms, processes of democratisation, human and gender
rights, etc. When Sudan was blocked from the international aid
system, it opened up for direct investments by China and other Arab
countries. China offered an alternative source of support and has a
“non-interference” policy in other countries’ domestic politics.
China provided almost US $2 billion in funding for the Merowe
Dam. China has two main interests in this project. First, it gives China
an advantage when competing for resources globally, since China
imports oil from Sudan. Second, it provides an alternative to the
Western consensus with regards to development policies, which are
implemented with social and political ideologies.
By providing non-conditional aid China and other countries have
challenged the Western development aid hegemony. The international
aid system has been a political tool for propagating Western values and
norms, first and foremost democracy and human rights. The political
map of Africa and the Nile Basin countries have changed when Western

48
countries are no longer the only development aid actors defining the
premises for the future. Development aid is also global politics.

• The international aid system has a strong impact on institutional

and policy development.
• The question is not only if aid “works,” but how it influences
and is influenced by political agendas.
• The international aid system represents a new international
social system with specific norms about democracy, human
rights, sustainability and development.
• The Western development aid hegemony has been challenged
by countries not sharing this ideology.

49
The Nile at Aswan, Egypt
50
51
 Water for the Future
The Nile Basin region faces immense challenges in the future. The
population growth will increase dramatically and more people will
be dependent upon the Nile water, though to various degrees. The
importance of the Nile for the people living in the region will be more
important than it has ever been. The ways in which Nile issues are
solved will have enduring consequences for the development of the
region and whether water will be a source to conflict or cooperation,
peace and stability. The future challenges are many and involve:
• Who owns and who can use the Nile water and in which quantity?
How is it possible to make optimal water utilisation agreements
which all countries can accept?
• How does climate change affect the rain patterns and the amount
of water in the Nile? If there will be less water in the Nile, how
can societies be organised around this even more scarce resource?
And how does climate change affect the spread of water-borne
diseases?
• How does human land use, which is water use, worsen the situation?
How can human interference in the environment reduce the water
scarcity, secure species richness and conserve ecosystems?

52
Rain clouds
• How can ideas about water in cultural and religious traditions be a
source to cooperation and development, and how can development
processes include existing values of water in society?
• How can the shaping of research universities become a basis for
shared knowledge on Nile issues? How can a scientific knowledge
base be optimised for integrated water resources management
across the region?
• How does the international aid system influence and is influenced
by the political agenda in the Nile Basin countries at both national
and regional levels?
The Nile Basin Research Programme has addressed these issues.
Researchers from the ten Nile Basin countries conducted independent
and interdisciplinary research on the topics from the different countries’
perspectives, contexts and needs. It has been the vision of the
programme that collaboration between researchers and exchange of
knowledge across political and academic barriers will enable dialogue
and a knowledge base for the future development of the Nile Basin
region. By building trust and capacity it creates an environment for
investments and integrated water resource planning and management.
NBRP has aimed to facilitate such capacity-building activities and
interchange of knowledge among researchers.

53
 Nile Basin Research
Programme, Research Groups
and Participants
The core activity of Nile Basin Research Programme (NBRP) has been
to be a guest researcher programme where up to two senior researchers
from each of the ten Nile Basin countries annually visited the University
of Bergen in Norway to conduct research on the Nile for 4-6 months.
Thus, NBRP has been one of the leading independent Nile research
programmes in the world.
The idea of the Nile Basin Research Programme was first presented
to Nile-Com in 1999, which is the meeting for the Nile Basin Water
Ministers. In September 2003 a concept note for a programme was
presented to Nile-Com in Addis Ababa. In June 2004 a final proposal
was jointly submitted to the Norwegian Ministry of Affairs by the
University of Bergen and the Nile Basin Initiative, and the contract
was signed with MFA in December 2005.
The programme was officially inaugurated on March 15, 2006, by
the Norwegian Minister of International Development, Erik Solheim,
and NBRP has been financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The
first phase of the programme (2006-2010) had a budget of 44 million
NoK (ca. US $ 7,6 million) and a second phase is proposed for the
period 2011-2014.
On the initiative of ATP and the NBRP the Nile Basin University
Forum was launched in Kampala in June 2009 and currently it has 18
Nile Basin universities as members. It is intended to be an organisation
of universities for the whole Nile Basin, crossing physical, language
and cultural borders. It will concentrate on issues relating to Integrated

54
Water and Resources Management in its widest sense and promote
mobility of staff and students. It will also address issues of syllabus
harmonisation between universities.
The Nile Basin University Forum is being developed as an important
tool for regional cooperation within research and higher education.
Further NBRP activities will as far as possible utilise this network,
while at the same time strengthening relations with other institutions
and networks in the region.

The research groups and the participants

have been as follows:
Spring 2007: Contested resources in the Nile Basin: Nile
development and Nile planning in the post-colonial period.
Economic development, power and Nile projects. This theme
was the foundation for the other research topics. The group analysed
Nile water development during the last half-century and how the Nile
water issue relates to other available water resources in the respective
countries’ development.
Participants
Pascal Nkurunziza, Burundi
Hosam Elemam, Egypt
Yacob Arsano, Ethiopia
Fadwa Taha, Sudan
Robert Baligira, Rwanda
James Mulira, Uganda
Honest Prosper Ngowi, Tanzania
Mary Mwiandi, Kenya
Terje Tvedt (academic leader)

55
Participants at the Nile Basin Research Conference
8-11 June 2009, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Autumn 2007: Climate in the Nile Basin area, with particular reference
to climate change and climate and health. The group compiled a set of
precipitation data for the Nile countries in order to address the question if
there will be more or less water in the Nile in the future, and how changing
climate and water regimes affect the spread of diseases.
Participants
Mohamed Elshamy, Egypt
Eman Hassan, Egypt
Everline Komutunga, Uganda
Semu Ayalew Moges, Ethiopia
Stephen Munga, Kenya
Joseph N. Mutemi, Kenya
Robert Baligira, Rwanda
Mohamed Yassen, Sudan
Howaida Abdelrahman, Sudan
Asgeir Sorteberg (academic leader)
Rune Nilsen
Ivar Seierstad
Ellen Marie Viste

Spring 2008: Water, culture and identity: comparing past and

present traditions in the Nile Basin region. Water is not only a
physical premise for life, but different water worlds and the presence
and absence of the life-giving water are incorporated into culture and
religion, thereby shaping and defining identities. The group analysed
such relations in past and present contexts in order to deepen the
understanding of the role of water in society since the way water is
conceptualised culturally and religiously influences how it is possible
to improve future water management.

58
 Participants
Raphael Muamba Tshimanga, DR Congo
Intisar Soghayroun Elzain Soghayroun, Sudan
Azhari Mustafa Sadig Ali, Sudan
Bertram Baltasar Mapunda, Tanzania
Rose-Marie Mukarutabana, Rwanda
Terje Oestigaard (academic leader)

Autumn 2008: Shaping research universities: Knowledge production

and higher education. This research group focused on the role of
research universities in social, economic and national development. These
analyses provided a better understanding of why and how different
societies develop universities differently, but also why reforms of research
universities cannot follow from translation of certain dominating or
popular models to the local situation.
Participants
Amani Elrayes, Egypt
Hosam Elemam, Egypt
Kassahun Berhanu Alemu, Ethiopia
Mary Mwiandi, Kenya
Rebecca Sima, Tanzania
Kukunda Elizabeth Bacwayo, Uganda
Roberts Muriisa, Uganda
Joseph Gahama, Rwanda
Yasin Abdalla Eltayeb Elhadary, Sudan
Léonidas Barakamfitiye, Burundi
Tor Halvorsen (academic leader)
Tom Skauge

59
 Atle Nyhagen
Marit Tjomsland

Spring 2009: Biodiversity and land-use change. Different land-use

practices have various consequences, and knowledge about the impacts
of humans’ engagement with the environment is fundamental in
order to identify those factors which change the water regimes. The
group focused on patterns of species richness along climate gradients
such as temperature and rainfall, and how human impact has direct
consequences on the conservation or deterioration of biodiversity.
Participants
Magdi Ali, Egypt
Getachew Tesfaye, Ethiopia
Henry Ndangalasi, Tanzania
Jean Jacques Mbonigaba Muhinda, Rwanda
Nada Babiker Hamza, Sudan
Ghebrehiwet Medhanie Ghebreamlak, Eritrea
Gaspard Ntakimazi, Burundi
Hassan Roba, Kenya
Robert Kityo, Uganda
Edward Mwavu, Uganda
Nseu Bekeli Mbomba, DR Congo
Elsir Omer Salih, Sudan
Ole Reidar Vetaas (academic leader)
Inger Elisabeth Måren (academic coordinator)
John-Arvid Grytnes
Vigdis Vandvik
Richard Telford

60
Autumn 2009: International aid system in the Nile Basin. The
international aid system and its actors finance the bulk of development
interventions and investments in numerous countries. The aid system
can be seen as a new international social system influencing regional
and national political agendas, and the group analysed how the aid
system in the Nile Basin countries influences and is influenced by
political agendas.

Participants
Jacques Niyongabo, Burundi
Godfrey Asiimwe, Uganda
Khaled Abou El Nour, Egypt
Ghiorgis Tekle Gebreghiorgis, Eritrea
Deribe Gurmu, Ethiopia
Mwangi Peter Wanderi, Kenya
Joseph Nkusi, Rwanda
Suad Badri, Sudan
Johnson Ishengoma, Tanzania
Tabitha Mulyampiti, Uganda
Paul Opoku-Mensah (academic coordinator)
Terje Tvedt (academic leader)

As part of knowledge production and contribution, it has been an explicit

aim that the publications should be available in open-access libraries where
researchers from the entire world can access the literature electronically
free of charge. University libraries form the core of academic research for
future knowledge production. Library cooperation and development is
therefore of vital importance. NBRP has cooperated with the University
Library of Bergen to facilitate such developments and dissemination

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of knowledge in the region. In order to further address
the future challenges and water issues in the Nile Basin
region, NBRP is also producing a documentary film, The
Nile Quest, which will have world-wide distribution and
dissemination.

For further information:

Nile Basin Research Programme
University of Bergen
P.O. Box 7810
N-5020 Bergen
Norway
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.nile.uib.no

Bujumbura, Burundi
 Selected publications
The programme publishes its research results through a series of edited
books and monographs as well as articles in peer-review journals.
Among the resent and forthcoming books are:
• Water, Culture and Identity: Comparing Past and Present Traditions in
the Nile Basin Region, Terje Oestigaard (ed.). Bergen: BRIC Press.
2009.
• The River Nile in the Post-Colonial Age, Terje Tvedt (ed.). London: IB
Tauris. 2010.
• The Neolitic of the Middle Nile Region. An Archaeology of Central Sudan
and Nubia, Azhari M.S. Ali. Kampala: Fountain Publishers. 2010.
• Climate and Health in the Nile Basin, Asgeir Sorteberg and Ellen Viste
(eds.). Kampala: Fountain Publishers, in press.
• Contemplating the Fipa Iron Working, Bertram B.B. Mapunda.
Kampala: Fountain Publishers, in press.
• Traditional Water Management in the Congo Rainforest, Raphael
Tshimanga. Kampala: Fountain Publishers, in press.
• Wadis Systems and Trade in Muslim Sudan, Intisar Soghayroun Elzein
Soghayroun. Kampala: Fountain Publishers, in press.
• The Nile Knowledge Societies: Shaping the Research University in Times of
Mass Tertiary Education Demands, Mary Mwiandi, Kassahun Berhanu
and Tor Halvorsen (eds.). Kampala: Fountain Publishers, in press.

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 • (Re)shaping the Research University of the Nile Region? Kassahun
Berhanu, Mary Mwiandi and Tor Halvorsen (eds.). Kampala:
Fountain Publishers, in press.
• Ecological Characteristics of the Fishes of Congo River, Mbomba Nseu
Bekeli (ed.). Kampala: Fountain Publishers, in press.
• Shire, the River of Malawi, Dean Kampanje Phiri. Kampala: Fountain
Publishers, in press.
• The International Aid System in the Nile Basin, Terje Tvedt (ed.), in
press.
Publications, when possible, are made available for free to download
from BORA (Bergen Online Research Archive), http://bora.uib.no.
For an overview of publications (including journal articles), see www.
nile.uib.no/publications.

Food transport, Uganda

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