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The Transboundary Impacts of Trade Liberalization and Climate Change on the Nile Basin Economies and Water Resource Availability

Water Resources Management volume 32, pages 935–947 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

A multi-country, multi-sector computable general equilibrium (CGE) model is used for the first time to evaluate the economic and water resource availability effects of trade liberalization (removal of import tariffs) and facilitation (reducing non-tariff barriers) under climate change in the Nile Basin. The analysis uses the GTAP 9 Database and the GTAP-W model that distinguishes between rainfed and irrigated agriculture and implements water as a factor of production directly substitutable in the production process of irrigated agriculture. A full trade liberalization and improved trade facilitation scenario is considered with and without climate change. The study reveals that trade liberalization and facilitation generates substantial economic benefits and enhances economic growth and welfare in the Nile basin. The effect of instituting a free trade policy on water savings is found to be limited, while climate change improves water supply and hence irrigation water use, enhancing economic growth and welfare in the basin.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded under the Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP), project number NPT/ETH/205.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Tewodros Negash Kahsay

  2. Department of Environmental Economics, Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Onno Kuik & Roy Brouwer

  3. Department of Economics and The Water Institute, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    Roy Brouwer

  4. IHE Delft, Delft, The Netherlands

    Pieter van der Zaag

  5. Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

    Pieter van der Zaag

Authors
  1. Tewodros Negash Kahsay
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  2. Onno Kuik
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  3. Roy Brouwer
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  4. Pieter van der Zaag
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Correspondence to Tewodros Negash Kahsay.

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Kahsay, T.N., Kuik, O., Brouwer, R. et al. The Transboundary Impacts of Trade Liberalization and Climate Change on the Nile Basin Economies and Water Resource Availability. Water Resour Manage 32, 935–947 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-017-1847-7

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