African Water Development Report 2006 - United Nations Economic ...

ENSURING THEKNOWLEDGE BASESince ancient times, water harnessed from waterbodies such as rivers, lakes, seas and others, usingvarious scientific and technological methods,have hugely influenced the development, includingsocio-economic development, of the humansociety. All the ancient civilizations were distinctlyand predominantly hydraulic in nature sincethey owed their establishment to the availabilityof water resources to meet their consumption,agriculture and inland transport requirements.Examples of prominent ancient river valley civilizationsthat flourished during the period 2000-3000 B.C. were the Mesopotamian civilizationin the valley of Rivers Euphrates and Tigris, theHarappan civilization in the Indus valley and theChinese civilization in the Huang-Ho River valley;the Egyptian civilization is the most relevantto Africa. The original Nile valley in Egypt consistedof an uninterrupted swamp subjected toseasonal floods and surrounded by deserts. Thereare indications that under Menes, the legendaryfounder of the first dynasty, the first stonefilled dam was constructed in Menphi (the ancientcapital of Egypt) as far back as 4000 yearsB.C. This made it possible to cultivate a largeexpanse of the surrounding arid area. By 2500B.C., a canal for potable water had already beenconstructed between Cairo and Suez. Successiveattempts were also made to construct a navigationcanal between the Mediterranean Sea andthe Red Sea, following almost the same layout asthe present Suez Canal. An extensive system ofcanals and impoundment basins was constructedduring the reign of Ramsey II in the fourteenthcentury B.C. In the years 1319-1304 B.C., Egyptiansconstructed a stone-filled dam six metrershigh and 2000 metres long on River Asi (nowRiver Oront) and it is still in use today.Generally, water is used in a wide variety of humanactivities which can broadly be classified intothree main categories. Thus, water can be seen:(a) As an indispensable physical substance fordrinking, for the daily necessities of people,for agricultural production and animalhusbandry, for the production of many industrialproducts and for the technologicalprocesses of production;(b) As a necessary medium for fisheries, watertransport, recreational and suchlike activities;(c) As a mass, used (by creating a fall in waterlevel) for producing mechanical energywhich in turn is transformed into electricalenergy in most cases.In its relationship with human societies, waterif excessive also causes destruction to life andto domestic and industrial installations throughfloods and storms. When scarce, it can bring devastationto agricultural production and famine.Knowledge is the engine that drives economicgrowth, and Africa cannot eliminate poverty withoutfirst increasing and nurturing its intellectual capital.From the keynote speech by Philip Emeagwali at thePan African Conference on Brain Drain, Elsah, Illinois,October 24, 2003.Source: The Sub-Saharan Informer, Vol. II, No.044,Nov. 07-13, 2003.The level of water resources development in almostall the water use sectors in many Africancountries is still very low. The available knowledgebase could be profitably applied if accompaniedby proper policy frameworks for planning,development, and management of water resources,taking advantage of advancements in waterscience and technology as well as lessons fromthe achievements and setbacks of the developedcountries. through appropriate knowledge andtechnology transfer mechanisms. It can thereforebe inferred that ensuring the knowledge base forAfrica’s water resources development and managementboils down to knowledge and informationtransfer within the general framework oftechnology transfer. The dynamic relationshipENSURING THE KNOWLEDGE BASE299