Environmental Security

Loss of fertile land by deforestation and erosion and unbalanced demographics create growing tensions in a country like Ethiopia. If Ethiopia would indeed go forward with diverting water from the Blue Nile for irrigated agriculture, this will increase tensions with the downstream countries in the Nile Basin, Sudan and Egypt. The programme would assist with monitoring and mapping the ecological risk situation in (parts of) the region, support on-going diplomatic and legal efforts, f.e. the Nile Basin Initiative, by involving its partners in The Hague, and promote payment to Ethiopian farmers for their efforts to keep the unique agro-biodiversity of the country intact as an alternative source of income.

IES Activities

The IES and its partners are currently in the initial phase of preparing an EnviroSecurity Assessment on this part of Africa. Within the Environmental Security for Poverty Alleviation programme, the IES seeks to develop:

• an EnviroSecurity Assessment report;
• an Interactive Map Viewer for the Horn of Africa;
• a set of policy recommendations, aimed at promoting environmental security and poverty alleviation in the Horn of Africa;
• a Case Study Poster.

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