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Livestock-Water Productivity in the Nile Basin: Solutions for Emerging Challenges

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Nile River Basin

Abstract

The competition for water between different uses and users is increasing, particularly in the Nile basin where about 90% of the production systems comprise livestock. There is an ongoing debate on how to increase water productivity in these crop-livestock systems. This paper presents a comprehensive framework to provide policy guidance and promote action to improve returns from water investments through: (i) provision of sufficient watering points for livestock across the basin; (ii) improving water productivity through promoting water-saving technologies, ensuring system integration and control of transboundary flux of livestock diseases; and (iii) formulating participatory basin scale regulatory frameworks on water use and sharing. It also argues that improving water productivity through integrated technological, policy and institutional interventions offers an opportunity for smallholders in both upstream and downstream countries to adapt to climate and market risks.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Challenge Programme on Water for Food (CPWF), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Tilahun Amede

  2. International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Tilahun Amede, Katrien Descheemaeker, Don Peden, Paulo van Breugel & Amare Haileslassie

  3. International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Katrien Descheemaeker, Everisto Mapedza & Seleshi B. Awulachew

  4. CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Glen Osmond, SA, 5064, Australia

    Katrien Descheemaeker

  5. International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Pretoria, South Africa

    Everisto Mapedza

Authors
  1. Tilahun Amede
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  2. Katrien Descheemaeker
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  3. Everisto Mapedza
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  4. Don Peden
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  5. Paulo van Breugel
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  6. Seleshi B. Awulachew
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  7. Amare Haileslassie
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Correspondence to Tilahun Amede .

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  1. Department of Earth and Environment, Florida International University, Modesto A. Maidique Campus, 33199, Miami, Florida, USA

    Assefa M. Melesse

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Amede, T. et al. (2011). Livestock-Water Productivity in the Nile Basin: Solutions for Emerging Challenges. In: Melesse, A.M. (eds) Nile River Basin. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0689-7_15

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