The UN sustainable development goals serve as a blueprint for a sustainable future. These goals include The Africa Water Vision for 2025 by the African Union, which entails re-thinking the governance of water resources in African countries. However, strategies to meet such goals are not consistently implemented. The ‘Unlocking Resilient Benefits from African Water Resources’ – or RESBEN – project, funded by the UKRI, is a large-scale project that engages communities in research, towards re-thinking how water resources are managed in African countries. The project includes all the partners of the African Research University Alliance Water Centre of Excellence, and two UK universities: Lancaster University and the University of Sheffield. Read More
The RESBEN project addressed three key questions. Firstly, it explored how water is currently used and for whose benefit. Secondly, it identified pollution sources and their impact on urban water systems. Finally, it explored how countries could improve their water governance to promote equitable water sharing, build community resilience through pollution management, and to restore natural ecosystems.
The project practiced the Adaptive Systemic Approach, through which research is embedded in the local context to ensure that it is relevant, usable, and has a lasting effect. The Adaptive Systemic Approach follows four key steps.
First, the researchers talk to stakeholders to jointly identify problems associated with local water management, so that the project focus can be agreed upon. These stakeholders then engage in an adaptive planning process, creating a shared vision for water governance in the region and outlining objectives for achieving this vision.
The third phase is a set of activities to build and share knowledge, encouraging stakeholders to re-think their approach to water management. This is done using Strategic Adaptive Management through conversations between stakeholders, researchers and institutions. The fourth phase is the implementation of agreed activities. Throughout the process, participants participate, monitor, evaluate, reflect and learn, adapting their approach towards realising their vision.
The RESBEN project’s activities began in 2020, involving urban regions in Nigeria and Uganda, as well as broader catchment landscapes in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, and South Africa.
Researchers at the University of Lagos in Nigeria explored solutions to improve groundwater management in Lagos City, discussing these with local government representatives. In Uganda, Makerere University identified crucial pollution-related issues linked to the dispersion of contaminants into Lake Victoria near the capital city during rainy seasons.
As stated by a researcher from Makerere University: “Rather than bringing science from outside, we empowered the farmers. We brought them on board and told them that they are representative of the community, while also including the Legal Office, the Department of Agriculture, and so on. I feel that little by little, sustainability will be ensured through this empowerment.”
The project team at Addis Ababa University and the Water and Land Research Centre in Ethiopia built on their collaboration with residents and representatives from watersheds, and carried out a learning exchange between two catchment landscapes with differing approaches to land restoration.
These interactions sparked opportunities for the introduction of innovative solutions to restore and manage land and water resources.
The University of Cheikh Anta Diop in Senegal investigated the management of water from the Guiers Lake, which provides half of the water reaching Senegal’s capital city, Dakar. This was the first time that farmers, agrobusiness, fishers & communities came together to discuss the growing issues facing the lake & their collective responsibility in addressing those issues.
Meanwhile, the University of Rwanda focused on strengthening participatory governance in the Akagera River catchment, an area increasingly under threat from erosion and urban pollution. Bringing stakeholders together, researchers initiated important conversations about pollution control and the restoration of these important water sources.
RESBEN researchers at the University of Cape Town in South Africa identified nature-based solutions to clean contaminated water, and organised workshops for local farmers and stakeholders to initiate discussions about how to remove pollution from rivers.
As a researcher from the University of Cape Town said: “Probably the scariest thing for us from a science perspective is how do we go beyond the factory fence and incorporate greater collaboration. This is the toolbox around the water hubs: bringing local authorities and neighbours together. This helped to create an enabling environment, demonstrating possibilities, creating inspiration and initiating collaboration and co-creation.”
Finally, Dar es Salaam University in Tanzania focused on the Great Ruaha river catchment, with intense competition for water between tourism, farming and industry. This project examined the impacts of planned developments on an already strained system, and exposed local management authorities to a participatory governance approach. The team is communicating with local stakeholders to improve water management for equitable sharing.
The RESBEN project has created numerous opportunities for cooperation about pressing water management problems in seven African countries. Its unique approach has shown the researchers on this project a more engaged way of working, and the potential impacts and challenges that result. This engaged approach is inclusive of different natural and social science disciplines, and it brings communities together to tackle shared challenges, co-working towards a more sustainable and equitable future.
