As the competition for fresh water for food, health and energy becomes increasingly intense, there is need to also address the issue of dwindling water resources and the implications for agricultural productivity.
This dossier deals with the challenge to efficiently and sustainably manage water resources. In his lead article, Gerd Förch, Professor for Water Resources Management at Universität Siegen, Civil Engineering Department, Germany, and director of the Research Institute for Water and Environment, focuses on the concept of integrated water resources management (IWRM) as a strategy for the efficient and sustainable management of water resources as the amount of freshwater available to mankind and nature is limited.
The lead article by Maimbo Malesu and Alex Oduor of ICRAF provide lessons from Rwanda and Zanzibar on upgrading water harvesting potential as small-scale solutions to major problems in managing water resources. They use vivid examples from these two countries to show how satellite imagery and digital mapping techniques can be used for supporting decision making on managing water resources in sub-Saharan Africa.
Background information to this dossier is provided in the form of links to websites of relevant organizations and downloadable articles.
Prepared by KIT in collaboration with CTA – July 2008. Edited by J.A. Francis, CTA & J. Sluijs, KIT