World Bank provides funds for sustainable development of water resources in the Tana & Beles Sub-basins

Contacts:

In Washington: Aby Toure +1 (202) 473 8302

akonate@worldbank.org

In Addis Ababa : Gelila Woodeneh (251-11) 662 7700

gwoodeneh@worldbank.org

Washington, May 29, 2008- The Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank today approved a US 45 million International Development Association credit[i]to the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) in support of its efforts to improve management of its water resources and accelerate sustainable growth in the Tana and Beles sub-basins.

Located in the Amhara and Benishangul-Gumuz Regions, these sub-basins are identified as the first of five proposed growth zones in the country in the GoE’s Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP). The sub-basins are home to about 3 million people and are a significant source of hydropower, navigation, fisheries, industry, and low-flows in the Blue Nile system.

As the area grows economically, it also faces a grave risk of unsustainable use of water resources, due to a lack of proper management and coordination.  Main challenges include climate risks such as floods and droughts, degrading watersheds, unsustainable fisheries, resource use conflicts, a poor knowledge base, and largely unplanned development.  This is exacerbated by inadequate institutional capacity.  Despite these challenges, the sub basins also offer significant opportunities for enhanced growth, underpinned by sustainable development and the management of water and land resources, in the areas of watershed development, tourism, and agricultural development and processing. 

The Tana & Beles Integrated Water Resources Development Project aims to lay the foundation needed to accelerate sustainable growth in the sub basins by developing enabling institutions and facilitating investments for integrated planning, management, and development.

“This project will be critical not only for local beneficiaries and Ethiopia in general, but will also improve regional cooperation among Nile riparian countries,” said E.V. Jagannathan and N. Harshadeep, World Bank Project Task Team Leader. “It seeks to develop a new paradigm of institutional modernization and convergence in managing precious water resources, while also stimulating sustainable development. Through a pipeline of growth-enabling investments and improved institutional capacity, we hope it will become a model for the better management of other sub-basins and growth zones in Ethiopia, and for a pathway out of the poverty trap.”

The project will support the following four components:

1. The Sub-basin Resources Planning and Management component seeks to develop the enabling institutional infrastructure and capacity required for stimulating and managing sustainable investments in the project implementation areas. 

2. The Natural Resource Management Investment component aims to improve watershed development in the Tana Sub-basin.  This will enable communities to manage properly 80,000 ha of degraded watershed.  It will aslo provide 1,500 ha of irrigation, 4,000 ha of high-value crops, 135 km of upgraded access roads, 190 km of upgraded internal access pathways, 230 newly-constructed foot bridges, and upgraded water supply sources and other community infrastructure.  In addition, the local and community capacity for flood management will be greatly strengthened through improved forecasting, communications, and preparedness activities.

3. The Growth-Oriented Investment Facilitation component is geared towards institutional capacity building and facilitation of public and private investment needed to realize the growth vision for the region.

4. The Project Management component will support overall project planning, coordination and management.

The Tana and Beles Integrated Water Resources Development Project will be implemented by the Ethiopian Ministry of Water Resources and decentralized entities in the two regions over a period of five years.

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For more information on the World Bank in sub-Saharan Africa visit: http://www.worldbank.org/afr

For more information on the World Bank in Ethiopia visit: http://www.worldbank.org/ethiopia

For more information about this project visit:

http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=295930&menuPK=295963&Projectid=P096323