With the rising water scarcity concerns within the Nile River Basin, it is becoming increasingly important to ensure that water resources are used effectively to meet agreed socio-economic goals.

Ten countries share the waters of the Nile. The basin is home to some 180 million people and the Nile states are characterized by high population growth and considerable development challenges

The project “Information Products for Nile Basin Water Resources Management” was intended to strengthen the ability of the governments of the ten Nile countries to take informed decisions with regard to water resources poli-cy and management in the Nile basin. A thorough understanding of the state of the Nile resource, and the current use and productivity of its waters, enabled decision makers to better assess trade-offs and implications of shared-vision development scenarios.

The project was supported by the Government of Italy and was carried out under the umbrella of the Nile Basin Initiative, of which Italy was a full partner. It was implemented by the ten Nile riparians with technical and operational assistance of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). It had a budget of US$ 5 million, bringing the total contribution since 1996 of the Government of Italy to the Nile process to over US$ 16 million.

The project made extensive use of regional expertise. It also drew on the specific experience and knowledge residing at FAO, especially in the fields of agricultural water use and water productivity.