This report by the Oakland Institute examines the implications of land grabbing in Africa for the fragile Niger, Nile and Omo river systems. It documents the ways in which the Ethiopian government is leasing land to foreign investors and planning to irrigate 3.6 million hectares of land. This project, when completed, would amount to a ninefold increase of the country’s total water usage for agriculture in 2002. This massive withdrawal of water from the Nile will have devastating political, economic and social impacts for people living downstream. The report calls on governments to stop prioritizing huge agricultural projects and start investing in sustainable water management systems (such as water harvesting, storage and small-scale irrigation) that would require low investment costs and limit environmental degradation.
December 2011
