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Use and retention of river water in African highlands deprive communities in arid lowlands of their benefits. This paper reviews information on water use in the Ewaso Ng’iro catchment, Kenya, to evaluate the effects of upstream abstraction on the Lorian Swamp, a wetland used by pastoralists downstream. We first assess the abstractions and demands for water upstream and the river water supplies at the upper and the lower end of the Lorian Swamp. Further analysis of 12 years of monthly SPOT-VEGETATION satellite imagery reveals higher NDVI (Normalized Differential Vegetation Index) values in the swamp than nearby rainfed areas, with the difference in NDVI between the two positively related to river water discharged into the swamp. The paper next reviews the benefits derived from water entering the swamp and the vulnerability to abstractions for three categories of water: (i) the surface water used for drinking and sanitation; (ii) the surface water that supports forage production; and (iii) the water that recharges the Merti Aquifer. Our results suggest that benefits from surface water for domestic use and forage production are vulnerable to abstractions upstream whereas the benefits from the aquifer, with significant fossil water, are likely to be affected in the long run, but not the short term.

The two years on-farm tillage research during the 1999 and 2000 cropping seasons in Ethiopian highland Vertisol area demonstrated the importance of adapting cultural practices into participatory trials. The minimum tillage package could be an effective intervention for soil conservation due to the early-vegetative cover of the soil. Based on farmers' application of ash on Vertisols at Chefe Donsa, the incorporation of 50 kg ha−1 of potassium sulphate (K2SO4) in the on-farm trial significantly increased grain and straw yields of wheat. The nitrogen levels in the grain and straw of wheat on plots given K2SO4 were higher than those without. The nitrogen level for both wheat grain and straw was even higher when grown on plots previously growing legumes that received K2SO4. This showed that the availability of extra potassium in these soils improved the extraction of nitrogen by the wheat crop, thus improving the grain yield. The findings indicate the need to reassess the traditionally-practised system of not applying potassium fertilizer to Ethiopian soils.

The Nile provides freshwater not only for domestic and industrial use, but also for irrigated agriculture, hydropower dams and the vast fisheries resource of the lakes of Central Africa. The Nile River Basin covers the whole Nile Basin and is based on the results of three major research projects supported by the Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF). It provides unique and up-to-date insights on agriculture, water resources, governance, poverty, productivity, upstream-downstream linkages, innovations, future plans and their implications. Specifically, the book elaborates the history and the major current and future challenges and opportunities of the Nile river basin. It analyzes the basin characteristics using statistical data and modern tools such as remote sensing and geographic information systems. Population distribution, poverty and vulnerability linked to production system and water access are assessed at the international basin scale, and the hydrology of the region is also analysed. This text provides in-depth scientific model adaptation results for hydrology, sediments, benefit sharing, and payment for environmental services based on detailed scientific and experimental work of the Blue Nile Basin. Production systems as they relate to crops, livestock, fisheries and wetlands are analyzed for the whole Blue and White Nile basin including their constraints. Policy, institutional and technological interventions that increase productivity of agriculture and use of water are also assessed. Water demand modeling, scenario analysis, and tradeoffs that inform future plans and opportunities are included to provide a unique, comprehensive coverage of the subject. 1. Introduction 2. Nile Water and Agriculture: Past, Present and Future 3. The Nile Basin, People, Poverty and Vulnerability 4. Spatial Characterisation of the Nile Basin for Improved Water Management 5. Availability of Water for Agriculture in the Nile Basin 6. Hydrological Processes in the Blue Nile 7. The Nile Basin Sediment Loss and Degradation with Emphasis on the Blue Nile 8. Nile Basin Farming Systems and Productivity 9. Livestock and Water in the Nile River Basin 10. Overview of Groundwater in the Nile River Basin 11. Wetlands of the Nile Basin: Distribution, Functions and Contribution to Livelihoods 12. Nile Water Governance 13. Institutions and Policy in the BNB: Understanding Challenges and Opportunities for Improved Land and Water Management 14. Simulating Current and Future Water Resources Development in the Blue Nile River Basin 15. Water Management Intervention Analysis in the Nile Basin Seleshi Bekele Awulachew was, at the time of writing, Acting Director in Africa for the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is now Senior Water Resources and Climate Specialist at the African Climate Policy Center (ACPC), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Vladimir Smakhtin is Theme Leader – Water Availability and Access at IWMI, Colombo, Sri Lanka. David Molden was, at the time of writing, Deputy Director General of IWMI, Colombo, Sri Lanka. He is now Director General of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Kathmandu, Nepal. Don Peden is a Consultant at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Livestock are the major consumers of water but also sustain millions of pastoralist and farming families. In regions where water is a scarce commodity, such as the Nile basin, there is a need for strategies to improve livestock water productivity (LWP). This study seeks to contribute to this need through a better understanding of livestock water use and productivity within the Nile basin and how this varies across the basin. We developed a spatial framework combining dynamic models of digestion in ruminants, crop water requirements (CWRs), and animal drinking water requirements to estimate spatial distribution of livestock water requirements in different livestock production systems (LPSs). We compared this with livestock production and water availability estimates within the basin. The results show that in most areas LWP is less than 0.1 USD/m³, with only few areas showing a LWP of 0.5 USD/m³ and higher. This is largely related to very low livestock meat and milk production on one hand and very variable, but, in general, low feed water productivity (fWP). Total water need for feed production was estimated to be roughly 94 billion m³, which amounts to approximately 5% of the total annual rainfall (68 billion m³ or 3.6% of total annual rainfall when excluding water for residues). Differences in LWP between systems and regions are large, suggesting considerable scope for improvements. We discuss the main factors influencing observed patterns of LWP and livestock water use and how this information can be used for developing strategies for increasing the water productivity of agricultural systems at the basin level.

Crop-livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are mostly rainfall-dependent and based on fragmented marginal lands that are vulnerable to soil erosion, drought and variable weather conditions. The threat of water scarcity in these systems is real, due to expanding demand for food and feed, climate variability and inappropriate land use (Amede et al., 2009). According to recent estimates, farming, industrial and urban needs in developing countries will increase water demand by 40% by 2030 (FAO, 2009). Water shortage is expected to be severe in areas where the amount of rainfall will decrease due to climate change. The lack of capacity of communities living in drought-prone regions to respond to market opportunities, climatic variability and associated water scarcity also results from very low water storage facilities, poverty and limited institutional capacities to efficiently manage the available water resources at local, national and basin scales. The spiral of watershed degradation causes decline in water budgets (Awlachew and Ayana, 2011), decreases soil fertility and reduces farm incomes in SSA (Amede and Taboge, 2007) and reduces crop and livestock water productivity (Descheemaeker et al., 2011). In areas where irrigated agriculture is feasible, there is an increasing demand for water and competition among different users and uses.

A monitoring study was carried out in Gumara watershed, upper Blue Nile basin, with the objective of evaluating livestock water productivity (LWP) using a life cycle assessment method. Sixty two smallholder farmers were selected for the study implemented between November 2006 and February 2008. Data on crop and livestock production were collected to allow assessment of livestock water productivity. Study sites were situated in three different rainfed mixed crop/livestock farming systems; barley/potato based system (BPS), tef/finger-millet based system (TMS), and rice/noug based system (RNS). LWP was found to be significantly lower (p < 0.01) in RNS (0.057 USD m−3 water) than in TMS (0.066 USD m−3 water) or in BPS (0.066 USD m−3 water). Notably, water requirement per kg live weight of cattle increased towards the lower altitude area (in RNS) mainly because of increased evapo-transpiration. As a result, 20% more water was required per kg live weight of cattle in the low ground RNS compared to BPS situated in the upstream parts of the study area. Cattle herd management that involved early offtake increased LWP by 28% over the practice of late offtake. Crop water productivity expressed in monetary units (0.39 USD m−3 water) was higher than LWP (0.063 USD m−3 water) across the mixed farming systems of Gumara watershed. Strategies for improving LWP, from its present low level, could include keeping only the more productive animals, increasing pasture productivity and linking production to marketing. These strategies would also ease the imbalance between the existing high livestock population and the declining carrying capacity of natural pasture.

The Nile provides freshwater not only for domestic and industrial use, but also for irrigated agriculture, hydropower dams and the vast fisheries resource of the lakes of Central Africa. The Nile River Basin covers the whole Nile Basin and is based on the results of three major research projects supported by the Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF). It provides unique and up-to-date insights on agriculture, water resources, governance, poverty, productivity, upstream-downstream linkages, innovations, future plans and their implications.  Specifically, the book elaborates the history and the major current and future challenges and opportunities of the Nile river basin. It analyzes the basin characteristics using statistical data and modern tools such as remote sensing and geographic information systems. Population distribution, poverty and vulnerability linked to production system and water access are assessed at the international basin scale, and the hydrology of the region is also analysed.  This text provides in-depth scientific model adaptation results for hydrology, sediments, benefit sharing, and payment for environmental services based on detailed scientific and experimental work of the Blue Nile Basin. Production systems as they relate to crops, livestock, fisheries and wetlands are analyzed for the whole Blue and White Nile basin including their constraints. Policy, institutional and technological interventions that increase productivity of agriculture and use of water are also assessed. Water demand modeling, scenario analysis, and tradeoffs that inform future plans and opportunities are included to provide a unique, comprehensive coverage of the subject.

Biomass productivity, botanical composition, and soil physical properties were studied under conditions with and without application of manure. The study was conducted at the Debre Zeit station of the International Livestock Research Institute, located 5 km from Addis Ababa in the Ethiopian highlands. The aim of the study was to assess the effect of manure on botanical composition, plant biomass, and water infiltration rates. There were 3 treatments: no grazing, moderate grazing (MDG = 1.8 animal unit months [AUM]/hectare), and heavy grazing (HVG = 4.2 AUM/hectare), each replicated 4 times. Removing cow dung from grazed plots decreased biomass production. Species richness was higher on manured plots than on nonmanured plots. The water infiltration rate was low on grazed and nongrazed plots with no manure when compared with the manured plots.

Scarcity, lack of access, and ineffective and inefficient use of water in Nkayi District, Zimbabwe, threaten agricultural production. The purpose of this study is to augment understanding of opportunities to increase livestock water productivity (LWP) in Nkayi District by taking into account key differences in the capacities, opportunities, and needs of women and men. There are two important types of female-headed households, de facto and de jure. The results from this study showed that male-headed and de facto and de jure female-headed households share much in common. They all had similar areas of cropland and access to education, finances, veterinary and extension services, and transportation and markets. Households of all types had similar herd sizes. All were desperately poor with incomes much less than a dollar a day. To rise out of poverty, the knowledge, skills and effort of all household heads will be needed. In spite of severe poverty, household heads of all types are literate and have sufficient education that can help enable adoption of intervention options that can lead to increased agricultural production and improved livelihoods. The results also showed that major differences exist in terms of the roles of men and women in ownership, management and decision making related to livestock keeping and animal production. Men clearly dominate in both ownership and decision making even though women play a major role in animal management. Only in de jure female-headed households were women more likely than men to own cattle and goats. They were also more likely to be involved in farming as a primary livelihood activity. Surprisingly, men were more likely to be involved in animal management in these de jure female-headed households. Women were also excluded from water users' and livestock producers' associations although a minority of men was members. By not involving the already-developed capacity of women, the community loses out on a significant opportunity to increase LWP and animal production more widely. Greater inclusion of women in decision making will be an important part of future efforts to improve livelihoods through livestock development.

Farming systems in the Nile are highly variable in terms of size, distribution and character- istics.The most prevailing system in the Nile Basin is the pastoral system, followed by mixed crop-livestock and agro-pastoral systems, covering 45, 36 and 19 per cent, respectively, of the land area.