Seminar at the World Water Week 2013 // Investments in Land & Water in the Nile Basin and TWM Nexus

The aim is to understand the role that water resources play in investments in agricultural land in countries such as Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan or South Sudan and its linkages to transboundary relations.

Sunday 1 Sep 2013, 09:00-12:30 Room B9/10

The panellists and audience are invited to address and discuss how large-scale investment in agriculture can contribute to regional economic development, trade and food security. Besides, debate will be promoted on how the transboundary hydropolitical decision-making processes, negotiations and institutions affect or are affected by these new investments. The seminar will be guided by 3 questions: -What is the current available information on water and land management at the national/regional levels informing the investment decisions? -What are the policy guidelines followed by governments, foreign and domestic private investors, involved in the land deals? -What role could there be for regional bodies such as the NBI and LVBC?

Programme

09:00 Opening of the Seminar and Welcoming Speeches. Dr. Ana Elisa Cascao, SIWI, and Dr. Tena Alamirew, WLRC, Ethiopia 09:10 State-of-the-art. Dr. Isabelle Providoli, University of Bern, Switzerland, and Mr. Pierre Guillibert, GIZ, Germany and Mr. Terje Østigård, Nordic Africa Institute, Sweden 09:30 World Café: Investments in Land & Water in the Nile Basin and TWM Nexus 10:30 Coffee Break + Poster Session 11:00 World Café: Reports from Tables and Comments from Guest Experts -Mr. Peter McCornick, IWMI -Mr. Alier Oka, Ministry of Water Resources/Nile-TAC Chair, South Sudan -Mr. Fred Mwango, Ministry of Water Resources, Kenya -Mr. Ali Mohamed Rahama, Irrigation Manager at Kenana Sugar Company, Sudan 11:50 Discussion 12:20 Closing Remarks