Shared Waters, Shared Opportunities

Edited by Bernard Calas and C. A. Mumma Martinon. A collection of critical research and presentations on water management and water conflicts in East Africa. The importance of watercourses to human life and development cannot be overemphasised: almost sixty per cent of Africa lies within shared rivers and lake basins. The Nile is shared by more than seven nations, the Zambezi by six, and the Congo by nine. With populations rising, many countries have been labelled water-scarce, and in fifteen years many people on earth will be exposed to water shortage consequences such as famine and disease. Thirteen African nations already suffer water stress. The book emerged from the Hekima College Water Day Academic Seminar in Nairobi in March 2009, hosted by Hekima College, Jesuit Hakimani Centre, and the French Institute for Research in Africa. For most of 2009, Kenya suffered severe flooding, highlighting that not only scarcity but excess water, incorrectly managed, can be disastrous.