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    Management and governance of African rivers
    (ELSEVIER INC., 2025) Raburu Phillip O.; Iteba Jacob O.; Barasa James E.; Nyangweso Hyline N.; Lalika Makarius C.S.; Masese Frank O.
    Over the years, there has been an outcry over the decline in ecosystem services (ES) that watersheds and rivers provide (Costanza et al., 1997; Kremen, 2005; De Groot et al., 2012; Ferreira et al., 2023; Masese and Dalu, 2024, Chapter 1). This situation has been witnessed in different parts of the world where dramatic declines in ES have posed serious challenges to watershed and river basin conservation (Kulindwa, 2005). While the capacity of watersheds and rivers to provide ES has become erratic, and sometimes increasing arithmetically, watershed and river basin degradation has been increasing exponentially (Brauman et al., 2014), necessitating the need for effective management and governance structures. Africa is endowed with extensive river basins that offer a wide variety of ES for inland and coastal communities (Dube et al., 2024, Chapter 2; O’Brien et al., 2024, Chapter 3; Mwaijengo et al., 2024, Chapter 4; Muvundja et al., 2024, Chapter 5; Dalu et al., 2024a,b, Chapters 6 and 7). The continent has many valuable large rivers, including the Congo, Limpopo, Niger, Nile, Okavango, Orange, Senegal, Volta, and Zambezi whose waters and catchments are habitats for endemic and threatened species of aquatic flora and fauna. Most of these river basins have socio-economic and cultural importance not only at the local, regional and national levels but also at the global scale. They support small-scale and large-scale agriculture, commercial and artisanal fisheries, livestock production and range management, industrial growth, hydro- power development and biodiversity. Unfortunately, the sustainability and well-being of these rivers and their basins face several challenges, including depletion of water resources through excessive abstractions, land use change, barriers to flow and connectivity caused by dams and weirs, failure to invest adequately in river protection, restoration and monitoring, and unsustainable financing of investments in water supply and sanitation (see Mpopetsi et al., 2024, Chapter 25; McClain and Masese, 2024, Chapter 28). The management and governance structures already in place also seem to be inadequate and ineffective. These threats and inadequacies impinge on the sustainable management of rivers, escalating competing demands for basic water supply and sanitation, food security, economic development and river-related ES. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the status of African river basins, existing policy and legal frameworks, and institutional structures established to facilitate their management and governance. The chapter also explores the challenges that have been experienced in the management and governance of river basins in Africa and we propose strategies for their effective management and governance
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    Water management curriculum for Africa using An ecohydrology approach
    (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 2022) Lalika Makarius C. S.
    As water scarcity intensifies, effective and coordinated management of water resources are among the major challenges for national governments and regional organizations in Africa. It is essential to provide tools, knowledge and strategies that will enable water resources to be managed more efficiently, sustainably and equitably. The sustainable management of water requires reliable scientific data. However, such data is often not available, particularly in the African continent, where funds for research and capacity building are limited. During a UNESCO-organized session at the 2016 Africa Water Week in Dar es Salaam, participants noted the importance of access to relevant water science information and data and called for a broad dissemination of innovative, low energy, low cost and advanced ecohydrology methodologies to address water-related challenges. Water management in Africa using ecohydrology and integrated water resources management (IWRM) principles will help identify sustainable solutions for water challenges.