SWE-2012-020: WATER POLITICS IN THE NILE BASIN: EMERGING LAND ACQUISITIONS AND THE HYDROPOLITICAL LANDSCAPE

General

This research aims to investigate the water and land nexus in the Nile Basin seeking to understand how the current surge in land acquisitions and investments by foreign countries, sovereign wealth funds, private corporations and domestic investors will affect transboundary water interaction in the region. The countries which will be analysed in a comparative perspective are Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda and the key questions are: 1) Which are the key land acquisitions in the region? 2) Under what contractual conditions are they undertaken? 3) What type of water will be used for agricultural development? 4) How do the water interests between the riparians differ - in terms of preference for irrigation, hydropower or other? 5) How do the new land acquisitions and the water use affect the overall political stability and development in the region?