Oral Presentations III: Water Management across the globe

Population worldwide is growing, which results in an increasing demand of irrigation and drinking water. During this early morning session solutions for some water management problems in developing countries were discussed. In East-Africa for instance, due to population growth, people are forced to extend agriculture from the high lands into wetlands, where the soil water availability is not constant. Beate Böhme presented that in inland valley wetlands the soil water availability is not very variable and thus very suitable for year-round production. Two other ways to ensure water availability for agriculture in the future are water storage and the use of un-treated wastewater for irrigation. Dr. Irit Eguavoen explained that water storage may be a good option in sub-Saharan Africa regarding climate change, but that the socio-economic impacts for the farmers are large and should taken into account. Phillip Weckenbrock did research in Pakistan to see if the negative image of the use of wastewater for irrigation is justified. He found that the use of wastewater is a very good option for farmers; the wastewater is cheaper to obtain than groundwater and using wastewater results in higher profits. Then Nilhari Neupane and Sisay Demeku Derib presented some local solutions to water scarcity. In Nepal modeling proved that water bargaining by the local population increases the benefits all around. In Ethiopia… The session was concluded by Simon Cook who gave a global view on food, water and poverty. There is higher and higher water stress across the globe, worsened by the uncertainty of climate change. The four main water related constraints to development are water scarcity, water related hazards, sharing of water and land resources and water productivity. These problems can be overcome and the Tropentag is a good starting point bringing all the knowledge together. Simon Cook gave an exclusive interview to the Student Reporter Team after his presentation, watch for it on YouTube later today!

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