Ambika Vishwanath and Shivangi Muttoo, research analysts at SFG, went on a two week field trip through Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, as a part of their research on the application of employing the Blue Peace approach to the Nile river basin. They met and held consultations with key stakeholders and experts from the region including Mr. Lister Kongola, Director of Water Resources Division, Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Tanzania; Hon’ Kwizera Eddie, Member of Parliament and Chairperson of the Parliamentary Forum on Climate Change, Uganda; Hon’ Joseph Nyandwi, Member of Parliament, Rwanda; former Rwandan Minister Mr. Albert Butare, and Dr. Tom Okurut, a premier regional voice and hydro-security expert.  The team also had a chance to meet and interview relevant ministry officials, water scientists and hydrologists, environmentalists, and economists from the three countries.

Dar-es-Salaam, or the ‘harbour of peace’, was the first stop on the visit. The team members visited the green campus of University of Dar-es-Salaam, where the Institute of Resource Assessment is a premier regional institute studying and assessing the state of natural resources. Discussions in Tanzania centred on the countries policies to effectively harness their abundant resources in an ecologically sustainable manner. Providing water to all corners of the country through numerous diversion projects is the main goal, though the team found that the civil society did not necessarily agree wit the government that this was the best way forward. It was interesting to find that the Government Publishing House, at the heart of the city centre, maintains records of all government reports, acts and policies since independence, which is available at a nominal price and is an affective measure to empower citizens. 

The next stop was Uganda, or the ‘Pearl of Africa’, where lies the well-known source of the Nile River. During the interaction with Ugandan experts, promoting biogas and small-scale waste to energy projects emerged as potential solution to their energy crisis, especially in rural areas. The Parliamentary Forum on Climate Change provided unique insights on climate change and its impact on water resources, glacial melting and high pollution levels, which will not only affect Uganda in the future, but also neighbouring countries. Host to the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) Secretariat situated right at the banks of Lake Victoria, transboundary cooperation on energy and agriculture is high on the list of Entebbe’s current policies.

The NBI Library and Information Centre provided the SFG team with vital data and information on the state of the Nile River Basin. A trip to Entebbe would remain incomplete without a visit to see Lake Victoria, which is one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world. Surrounded by three countries, cooperation on preserving the lake is extremely important. 

The final destination of the East Africa visit was Kigali, the beautiful capital of Rwanda which is known as ‘the land of thousand hills’. With wide tree-lined avenues and open accessible leaders, Rwanda seems determined to foster and promote large scale development, with a view towards creating a new and positive shared history. However, the fast pace of development, without adequate measures of ensuring sustainability, will have an impact on resources and the environment, in a country already witnessing land degradation and depletion of forests. The Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Programme (NELSAP) headquarters is based in Kigali and the team interacted with Mr. Antoine Sendama, regional coordinator, on possible scope for regional cooperation in the basin. The team completed the visit by paying respect to the victims of the 1994 genocide at the Kigali Memorial Centre.

The interactions and discussions allowed the research team to obtain an in-depth and comprehensive view of the current water situation in East Africa, as well as gather insight into the intricacies of the Nile River Basin. The East African community have dialogued on a shared vision and is actively engaged in a number of efforts to explore regional cooperation between the parties in the area of sustainable water management, as well as other fronts.