The Economic and Ecological Effects of Water Management Choices in the Upper Niger River: Development of Decision Support Methods

Zwarts, Leo; Beukering, P.J.H. van; Koné, B.; Wymenga, Eddy; Taylor, Douglas

doi:10.1080/07900620500405874

Cited by 28 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…in rural areas, and that small-scale fisheries, if recognized and supported by adequate policies, can actually play a significant role as an engine for rural development, especially in remote areas where other economic opportunities are scarce (Sugunan et al, 2007;Zwarts et al, 2006). Unfortunately very little empirical evidence exists to substantiate these statements for reasons already explained above: fisherfolks, in particular inland fishing communities, are notoriously marginalized in national statistics, especially in developing countries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Fish as the “bank in the water” – Evidence from chronic-poor communities in Congo

Béné

Steel²,

Luadia³

et al. 2009

Food Policy

132

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Fish as the “bank in the water” – Evidence from chronic-poor communities in Congo

Béné

Steel²,

Luadia³

et al. 2009

Food Policy

132

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“…For a transboundary river basin like the Niger, it is beneficial for policy makers to understand changes in regional and national sustainability under different external drivers. Considering demographic, ecological, fishery distribution, country area, water quantity, and socioeconomic factors, we identified five countries along the main stem of the Niger: Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon and three regions of special interest: Office du Niger (major irrigated crop production), Inner Niger Delta (key ecosystem hot spot), and Outlet Niger Delta (key ecosystem hot spot) for regional‐level analyses (e.g., Bhattacharyya et al, ; Kuper et al, ; Liersch et al, ; NBA, ; Ogilvie et al, ; Passchier et al, ; Sidibé & Williams, ; Zwarts et al, ). The relative location of these countries and locations from upstream to downstream are as follows: Guinea, Mali, Office du Niger, Inner Niger Delta, Niger, Nigeria, Outlet Niger Delta, and Cameroon (the Benue River).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying the Sustainability of Water Availability for the Water‐Food‐Energy‐Ecosystem Nexus in the Niger River Basin

Yang

Khan

et al. 2018

Earth's Future

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Water, food, energy, and the ecosystems they depend on interact with each other in highly complex and interlinked ways. These interdependencies can be traced particularly well in the context of a river basin, which is delineated by hydrological boundaries. The interactions are shaped by humans interacting with nature, and as such, a river basin can be characterized as a complex, coupled socioecological system. The Niger River Basin in West Africa is such a system, where water infrastructure development to meet growing water, food, and energy demands may threaten a productive and vulnerable basin ecosystem. These dynamic interactions remain poorly understood. Trade‐off analyses between different sectors and at different spatial scales are needed to support solution‐oriented policy analysis, particularly in transboundary basins. This study assesses the impact of climate and human/anthropogenic changes on the water, energy, food, and ecosystem sectors and characterizes the resulting trade‐offs through a set of generic metrics related to the sustainability of water availability. Results suggest that dam development can mitigate negative impacts from climate change on hydropower generation and also on ecosystem health to some extent.

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“…NID's floodplains are being modified as the result of water management activities, in particular large-scale irrigation schemes; which, irrigation water increases with higher crop evapotranspiration and high intake of water abstracted from rivers (Niger & Bani) can be explained due to a lack of an adequate efficient irrigation system [1,15,37]. Some studies were conducted, since the early developments of the "Office du Niger" and have confirmed this hypothesis.…”

Section: Comparing Water Balance Components With the Previous Studiesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Water Balance Analysis over the Niger Inland Delta-Mali: Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of the Flooded Area and Water Losses

et al. 2017

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Abstract:The Niger Inland Delta (NID) wetland comprises a large flooded area that plays an important role in the ecosystem services. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the NID's hydro-climatological functioning using water balance approach. After a clear description of the water budget's elements specific to the NID catchment, a spatial and temporal dynamics of the annual flood across the NID over the period 2000-2009 was performed using data from satellite QuickSCAT and its associated sensor SeaWinds. The estimated areas were used along with observed discharge and remotely-sensed climatic data to quantitatively evaluate each water balance component. The results indicate: (i) a clear spatiotemporal of the flooded areas varied between 25,000 km 2 in wet periods and 2000 km 2 in dry periods; (ii) an average evapotranspiration loss of 17.31 km 3 (43% of the total inflow) was assessed in the catchment; (iii) precipitation's contribution to the NID's budget totals 5.16 km 3 (12.8% of the total inflow); and (iv) the contribution of return flow from irrigated fields totals 1.8 km 3 (4.5% of the total inflow, among which 1.2 km 3 are from Office du Niger) to the flooded areas, refined the NID's water balance estimates. Knowledge gained on NID's water balance analysis will be used to develop and calibrate hydrological models in the Niger Inland Delta of the basin.

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The Economic and Ecological Effects of Water Management Choices in the Upper Niger River: Development of Decision Support Methods

Cited by 28 publications

References 5 publications

Fish as the “bank in the water” – Evidence from chronic-poor communities in Congo

Fish as the “bank in the water” – Evidence from chronic-poor communities in Congo

Quantifying the Sustainability of Water Availability for the Water‐Food‐Energy‐Ecosystem Nexus in the Niger River Basin

Water Balance Analysis over the Niger Inland Delta-Mali: Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of the Flooded Area and Water Losses

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