An Appraisal of the Nile Basin Initiative in the Alleviation of
Ethiopia’s Food Insecurity and Environmental Degradation
Wondwsoen Michago
Abstract
The Nile River snakes through jungles, slashes through gorges and floats through
deserts, offering lives to more than 300 million peoples. The Nile Basin countries established the Nile Basin Initiative to achieve sustainable socio-economic development through
the equitable utilization of, and benefit from, the common Nile Basin water resources, on the one hand, and to alleviate food insecurity and
environmental degradation, on the other. Today, however, the Nile Basin is facing a high rate of environmental degradation and food
insecurity. Among the riparian states, Ethiopia is suffering the most. The country is on a knife-edge. The ecological crisis is
deepening from time to time. Every single day, millions of Ethiopians are
starving..
The main objectives of this
thesis are, therefore, to critically assess the present status of the Eastern
Nile Subsidiary Action Programs (ENSAP) projects, particularly those projects
that are directed to solve the problems of food insecurity and environmental
degradation and also tries to examine the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and its
contribution in addressing these problems and to make some prognosis about its future status. This paper has used both secondary and
primary sources of data. Semi-structured and unstructured interviews with key
informants, concerned persons and pertinent organizations are held.
The study found out that there
are many positive developments with some challenges. The ENSAP projects have
immense potential to alleviate Ethiopia’s food insecurity and environmental
degradation, if implemented timely and properly. To date, there is a high
spirit of cooperation among the Eastern Nile
countries to implement ENSAP projects on the ground through fast track
approach, even if the projects are behind schedule and their expected outputs
are yet to be realized.
An Appraisal of the Nile Basin Initiative in the Alleviation of
Ethiopia’s Food Insecurity and Environmental Degradation
Wondwsoen Michago
1. Introduction
The Nile River snakes through jungles,
slashes through gorges and floats through deserts, offering lives to more than
300 million peoples. It is the longest river in Africa and the second longest in
the world, next to the Mississippi River. The Nile Basin covers the whole of Uganda, almost the entire
cultivated and settled areas of Egypt, one-third of Ethiopia, a substantial portion of
the Sudan, and parts of Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Eritrea (Ibrahim, 1984). The basin
area envelops one-tenth of the total area of Africa. It also covers one-third
of the part of the ten Nile riparian countries that are inhabited by
approximately half of the African population. The Nile is a product of tropical
environment, which flows northward into the Mediterranean Sea, its mouth, stretching over
Lake
Victoria and Lake Tana. It covers areas exhibiting varieties and
contrasts in topography, climate, vegetation and people over its diversified
range of latitude and altitude (Ibid.).
The main objectives of this
paper are: to critically assess the present status of ENSAP projects,
particularly those projects that are directed to solve the problems of food
insecurity and environmental degradation in Ethiopia and to analyse the
practicality or implementation aspects of NBI/ENSAP in addressing these issues
and make some prognosis about its future status. Hence, much of the emphasis in
this paper dwells on Ethiopia and particularly around its
Nile basin areas. Besides, this
will bring to the benefit of understanding ENSAP’s role and actual prospects of
promoting and achieving poverty alleviation, economic growth and the
amelioration of environmental degradation in Ethiopia.
1.1. Description of the Portion of the Nile Basin
within Ethiopia
The Ethiopian portion of the
Nile Basin consists of three major rivers, viz. the Abbay, Tekeze and Baro-Akobo,
which originate from the central highlands, north-western and south-western of
the country respectively. They cover a total area of about 358,889 km2,
which accounts to nearly 34% of the total geographic area of the country. They
also serve as homes to about 40% of the country’s population. The total annual
surface runoff of the three rivers is estimated at 80.83 billion cubic meters
(hereafter bcm) per year, which amounts to nearly 74% of Ethiopia’s 12 river basins. Besides,
the three river basins have tremendous development potentials, including the
development of irrigation agriculture (over 2 Million ha) and hydropower
generation (about 98,831 GWH/yr). In effect, they account for over 58% and 73% of the country’s
overall potentials in irrigation and hydropower developments respectively (MoWR
Master Plan: Abbay, 1999; Tekeze, 1998 and Baro-Akobo, 1997 and NBI/ NTEAP,
2005).
These three major river basins cover six
Regional States of Ethiopia, namely; Amhara, Tigray,
Oromiya, SNNP, Gambella, and Benshangul-Gumuz with varying proportions. As it
can be seen from Table 1, the Nile Basin within Ethiopia covers 38% of the
total land area in Amhara, 24% of Oromiya, 15% of Benishangul-Gumuz, 11% of
Tigray, 7% of Gambella and 5% of Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples
(SNNP) Regional States’. Among the Regional States, Gambela and
Benishangul-Gumuz regions are entirely located within the basin, while
considerable parts of the other regions fall under the basin.
Table
-1: Areal distribution and relative proportions of the Nile Basin within Ethiopia
|
Regional States
|
Baro-Akobo Basin
|
Abbay Basin
|
Tekeze Basin
|
Total (Nile in Ethiopia)
|
|
Area (km2)
|
% (Basin)
|
Area (km2)
|
% Basin
|
Area (km2)
|
% (Basin)
|
Area (km2)
|
%
|
|
1.
Gambella
|
26,062
|
34
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
26,062
|
7%
|
|
2.
SNNPR
|
18,668
|
25
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
18,668
|
5%
|
|
3.
Benshangul-Gumuz
|
7,412
|
10
|
44,699
|
22.37
|
-
|
-
|
52,111
|
15%
|
|
4.
Oromyia,
|
23,770
|
31
|
62,474
|
31.27
|
-
|
-
|
86,244
|
24%
|
|
5.
Amhara
|
-
|
-
|
92,639
|
46.36
|
45,237
|
54.39
|
137,876
|
38%
|
|
6.
Tigray
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
37,928
|
45.61
|
37,928
|
11%
|
|
Total
|
75,912
|
100
|
199,812
|
100
|
83,165
|
100
|
358,889
|
100%
|
Sources:
MoWR Master Plan:
Abbay, 1999; Tekeze, 1998 and Baro-Akobo, 1997 and NBI/ NTEAP, 2005.
In the following sections, a very brief description of the three rivers
that flow within Ethiopia will be highlighted.
I. Tekeze Basin
Tekeze river basin is situated in the north-western
part of Ethiopia and forms the northern most part of the Nile Basin
within Ethiopia. It consists of three main rivers Tekeze itself, Angereb and Goange. These
river basins join in Sudan and form the Atbara River. Tekeze rises at an altitude of about 3,500
meter above sea level (hereafter m.a.s.l.) from Meket mountain range near Lalibela and flows north until it turns
westward along the Ethio-Eritrean border and covering a whole distance of 600
km until it crosses the Ethio-Sudan border near Humera at an altitude of 550
m.a.s.l. It covers a total area of 82,350 km2
within Ethiopia (exclusively in the Amhara and Tigray Regional States).
It is
also known that about 70 % of the Tekeze basin lies in the highland part of Ethiopia, with a slope
ranging from 1.5 to 3 %. (MoWR Master Plan: Abbay,
1999; Tekeze, 1998 and Baro-Akobo, 1997 and NBI/ NTEAP, 2005).
II.
Abbay Basin
The
Abbay basin is situated in the north-central and western
parts of Ethiopia, forming a generally rectangular shape and extending for about 400 km
from north to south and for about 550 km from east to west. It covers a total
area of 199,812 km2 within Ethiopia and
has an average annual discharge of about 49.4 BCM (measured at Sudan
border). The Dabus and Didessa that spring in Ethiopia are
the largest tributaries of the Abbay River
accounting for about 10 % and 8.5% of the total flow at the border
respectively. It originates from the centre of its own catchment around Lake
Tana in the north and develops its course in a clockwise spiral, collecting its
tributaries all along its nearly 1,000 km length from its source, to the south
of Lake Tana up until the Ethio-Sudan border (MoWR Master Plan: Abbay, 1999;
Tekeze, 1998 and Baro-Akobo, 1997 and NBI/ NTEAP, 2005).
III. Baro-Akobo Basin
The Baro-Akobo
river basin originates in the western highlands at altitudes ranging from 2,000-
3,500 m.a.s.l. situated along the eastern part of the area and fall to the
Gambella plain (450 m.a.s.l.) to the west. It covers a total catchment area of
nearly 76,000
km2 within Ethiopia; and accounts for annual
runoff of 23.24 bcm (about 21% of the country’s total annual surface flow). It also has huge
potentials in irrigation and hydropower. It consists of four major
rivers, namely Baro, Alwero, Gilo and Akobo. It runs through the
Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambela, Oromiya and SNNP Regional States. The Baro-Akobo, also
called Sobat after crossing the southern Sudan border, makes a confluence with
other two rivers flowing from further south namely Albert River (Bahr El Jebel)
and Bahr El Ghazal near Malakal in Sudan to form the White Nile collectively
(MoWR Master Plan: Abbay, 1999; Tekeze, 1998 and Baro-Akobo, 1997 and NBI/
NTEAP, 2005).
2. The Problem of Food Security and Environmental Degradation in Ethiopia
In what follows, attempts will be made to discuss
the status of food insecurity and environmental degradation in Ethiopia in general and in the Ethiopian Nile portion in particular.
2.1. Food
Insecurity in Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s recorded history has been
punctuated by famine and drought. Both chronic and transitory food insecurity
are the hallmark of the country. Ethiopia faced more than three major
famines in different times. Examples for this include the 1888/92, 1964/66,
1974, 1984/85 and 1994 famines (Kifle
and Yoseph, 1999). Since the occurrence of the strongest famine in 1984, Ethiopia has been suffering from
structural as well as transitory food deficits, requiring substantial food aid
both in non-drought and drought years (Devereux, 2000). The government of Ethiopia said that to date, “food insecurity is one of the
defining features of rural poverty, particularly in the moisture deficit
northeast highland plateaus and some pastoral areas” (The FDRE Food Security
Strategy, 2002). The
reasons for the concentration of famine in the central and northeastern
highlands zones, which are mostly found in the Nile Basin, are three interrelated
factors: population pressure,
ecological degradation and climate change (Kloos and Zein 1988, Gutu, Lambert,
and Maxwell 1990, quoted in Webb et al, 1992).
In
general, the causes of food insecurity both in Ethiopia and in the Ethiopian portion of the Nile Basin are identical. Here, it has to be noted that there is
no general consensus on the causes of food insecurity. Different authors
forwarded different causes of food insecurity.
But it can be generalized that the root causes of food insecurity in Ethiopia in general and in the Nile Basin portion in particular are both man-made and natural
factors.
The unutilized water resources of
the country’s major river basins are the main reason for Ethiopia to
remain poor and food insecure. For
centuries, the agricultural sector showed a very low growth rate due to its
high dependence on rain-fed agriculture For example, Von Braun (1991) estimated
that a 10% decline in rainfall below its long-term average reduces national
food production by 4.4% (cited in Devereux, 2000: 4). It
is believed that the immense potential of the Ethiopian Nile is enough to feed
not only Ethiopia but also the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia, however, failed to use its water
resources due to internal and external factors, with the former related to
civil war, lack of finance, poor policy, and others, while the latter with the
transboundary nature of the river, the Cold War politics, Egyptian influence
and the like (Wondimeneh, 1997 ; Gebretsadik, 2000; Yosef, 2003 and Yacob, 1997)
2.1.1. Food
Insecurity in the Portion of the Nile Basin in Ethiopia
Food insecurity is a common feature in the portion of
the Nile Basin in Ethiopia. The Tekeze River Basin Integrated Development Master
Plan Project of 1998 reported that 10% of the people in Tekeze Basin are
considered rich, while
30% are middle-income and the rest 60% are poor or very poor (MoWR Master Plan, Tekeze,
1998). The report showed that food
shortage affects all poor households as well as middle income households,
albeit in different degrees. Due to the similarities in socio-economic
conditions in the Abbay river basin with that of the Tekeze river basin, the
food insecurity situations in both sub-basins is believed to be similar,
especially in the Amhara and Oromiya regions. A recent wealth ranking that has
been reckoned based on the local standards for 6 Weredas in Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State, which is entirely located in the Baro-Akobo and
Abbay river basins, showed that 50-75% of the community members are food
insecure (FDRE/MoWR, 1998, Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State, 2004 cited in
NBI/NTEAP, 2005).
The increment and size of food insecure people and the
areal coverage are always expanding. For instance, the Baro-Akobo river basin,
which used to be considered better-off than the other sub-basins, is reported
to be equally experiencing food insecurity due to declining soil fertility,
erratic rainfall, civil unrest, and other factors. Unfortunately, the continued
expansion of farmlands through denudation of natural forests could not
sufficiently feed the growing human population. As a result, the February 2005
Benishangul-Gumuz Food Security Program showed that the people in the Region
suffered from food deficiency for a significant part of the year. The baseline survey of the same study result
indicated that the towns of Sherkole, Kurmuk and Guba experienced food gaps of
-59%, -50% and -33% respectively (NBI/NTEAP, 2005).
The
above facts clearly show the degree to which the Ethiopian portion of the Nile Basin finds itself in chronic food shortage. Last year, a
joint government and humanitarian partners appeal made it clear that 52% of the
Nile Basin people are food insecure. Given this, they appealed
for 55% of relief food requirement (refer to Table 2).
Table 2- Food Aid Beneficiaries and Requirements in
2005 by Region
|
No.
|
Region
|
Beneficiaries
|
Food
Requirement (MT)
|
|
1.
|
Tigray
|
702,922
|
101,233
|
|
2.
|
Amhara
|
114,610
|
15,560
|
|
3.
|
Oromia
|
682,755
|
90,409
|
|
4.
|
Gambela
|
49,500
|
5,502
|
|
5.
|
SNNPR
|
426,667
|
44,571
|
|
Sub-Total
(1-5)
|
1,976,454
|
257,275
|
|
% of Total
(1-5)
|
52%
|
55%
|
|
6.
|
Harari
|
6,605
|
736
|
|
7.
|
Somali
|
1,240,806
|
137,916
|
|
8.
|
Afar
|
544,478
|
63,471
|
|
9.
|
Dire
Dawa
|