Water Scarcity and Conflict in African River Basins: The Hydropolitical Landscape

The book examines the hydropolitical landscape of African transboundary river basins, focusing on the role of scarcity in generating or exacerbating conflicts. It takes a comparative approach to three shared basins: the Orange-Senqu, the Nile, and the Niger River basins, highlighting the environmental challenges and their links to climate variability, water resources, human security, conflict, adaptation, and regime capacity. The book argues that conflict over transboundary resources can be prevented through the establishment of norms, rules, and the role of external actors in regulating state behavior and controlling their impacts.

Format: Hardback
Length: 168 pages
Publication date: 31 March 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

The book delves into a comprehensive and comparative analysis of the hydropolitical landscape of African transboundary river basins, which have faced significant challenges related to water scarcity for much of the past century. River and lake basins, due to their intricate interplay of environmental, demographic, diplomatic, historical, and geopolitical factors, can become sources of tension and conflict. However, this book specifically focuses on the often overlooked role of scarcity in generating or exacerbating conflicts in shared river basins. It asserts that transboundary river basins create a web of interdependence among states, highlighting how water scarcity, or the depletion of water resources, complicates this relationship as nations are compelled to look beyond their borders to meet the demand for water to satisfy various needs.

Taking a comparative approach, the book examines three shared basins: the Orange-Senqu, the Nile, and the Niger River basins. While these basins are located in different regions, they all share severe environmental challenges that pose significant threats to combustible hydropolitics over shared water resources. These basins offer valuable insights into the interconnectedness between climate variability and change, water resources, human security, conflict, adaptation, and regime capacity.

Overall, this book makes a compelling argument that conflicts over transboundary resources can be prevented through the establishment of norms, rules, and the involvement of external actors that facilitate state behavior regulation and impact management. It will be of immense interest to students and scholars of water resource management, hydropolitics, environmental conflict, resource scarcity, and international relations. Additionally, policymakers engaged in transboundary water resource management will find this book invaluable in understanding the complexities and challenges associated with managing shared water resources in a sustainable and conflict-free manner.

Weight: 396g
Dimension: 162 x 242 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032432434