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

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<strong>African</strong> countries can obviously not absorb bythemselves As these new technologies are, ashas been said, mostly needed for the monitoringand management of hydro-climatic data andfor rationalising water resources development ina situation of diminishing resources and generallack of human skills (Box 16.6), there is an urgentneed to device a mechanism based on internationalcooperation to facilitate education andtraining and reduce the related costs within thewider context of technology transfer.Modalities for <strong>Water</strong> Technology Transferand Information DisseminationThe low level of development and exploitation ofwater resources in <strong>African</strong> countries versus thegrowing demand for water in response to populationgrowth and socio-economic developmentnecessitates urgent infusion of the needed technologiesinto water resources development andmanagement. The aim of any technological useor transfer is to effect a given action either forwater use development or for water resources assessmentand management.Obviously, a rich store of scientific and technologicalknowledge and information on waterresources exist in the developed world, but arelacking in Africa. The problem is how to developan effective mechanism for their transfer to theneedy <strong>African</strong> countries. <strong>Water</strong> resources developmenthad already attained a very high andsaturated level even before scientific and technologicalmethods and tools reached the pres-ENSURING THE KNOWLEDGE BASEBox 16.6: Scientific Basis of International CooperationThere are strong physical and socio-economic bases for international cooperation in water technology and knowledgetransfer in order to enhance the monitoring of the hydrological cycle, freshwater resources, climate changedynamics and hydrometeorological extreme events. Andah (1992) summarizes the global interconnections inwater resources as follows:Physical(a) Catchment hydrology to global hydrology: The complex interaction of the hydrological cycle withthe environment including the feedbacks which exist between the components of the atmosphere, lithosphereand biosphere of the planet earth;(b) Regional and continental teleconnections between climatic anomalies: Analysis of spatial andtemporal teleconnections of atmospheric anomalies such as the Southern Oscillation phenomenon like theEl Niño;(c) Climate change: <strong>Development</strong> of Atmospheric General Circulation Models and their coupling mechanismswith the regional and local hydro-climatic processes;Socio-economic(a) National water resources to global water resources: The interaction of local and regional water usewith the global water needs and the import/export of Africa’s “green water”, what is generally referred toas “virtual water”;(b) Land use and environmental change: The control of land use practices like deforestation and desertificationwhich have negative repercussions on both the regional and global climate and the hydrologicalcycles;(c) Disparity in technological and socio-economic development: the North-South disparity meansdifferent levels of water resources development, of scientific and technological knowledge and of data collectioncoverage both in time and space and the urgent need for their global harmonization.Specifically, international cooperation efforts should be directed at:(a) Technology transfer through aid programmes and grants;(b) Promotion of exchange of information, experience and knowledge regarding water resources; and(c) Identification and development of joint activities in the areas of training, research and development.315

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