East African Community Vision 2050: Is it water-proof?

Dr Ali Said Matano, Commission Executive Secretary (third from left) with IIASA and ICRISAT staff.

At a recent project planning meeting with the Lake Victoria Basin Commission at the East African Community, participating members agreed to quantify water security in the Victoria Basin until 2050, given dramatic changes in demography, food demand and climate. The Lake Victoria and its rivers are the lifeline for 35 million people but water resources degrade, with reasons also in agriculture. While the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) will deploy their macro models to the lake basin across five countries, ICRISAT explores the nexus between future water availability, rain-fed agriculture and fragility/resilience at meso and micro-level. Such foresight provides critical inputs to trans-border innovation and scaling of water-proof food production in future. Important lever: Direct links with policy and governance through the Council of Ministers. The meeting was attended by Dr Michael Hauser (extreme right), Theme Leader, Markets, Institutions, Nutrition and Diversity.