Regional Project: Overview on Groundwater in the Niger Basin Authority (NBA)
Country / Region: West Africa / Regional Project Approach / Office of the Project in Niamey / Niger
Focal Point: Groundwater
Begin of project: October 1, 2019
End of project: September 30, 2024
Status of project: May 7, 2024
Uninstallation of a hand pump in preparation of taking water samples from a borehole well in the Kandi region of Benin
Source: Kolja Bosch
The Niger Basin
The Niger River is the lifeline of West Africa. With its 4200 km, it is the third longest river in Africa. Its water catchment area of about 2.1 million km² is about six times as large as the Federal Republic of Germany. It stretches over nine countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Nigeria. Most of the approximately 125 million people in the catchment area of River Niger are living from farming, fishing and animal husbandry. They are dependent on the waters of the Niger. Together with its tributaries, the Niger is the main resource for irrigated agriculture, fishing, transportation and energy. However, strong population growth, climate change and a lack of resource management put the water resources of the Niger Basin under increasing pressure. Thus, the livelihoods of the people and the development of the entire region are threatened.
Pump test in the Kandi region of Benin
Source: Kolja Bosch
The Niger Basin Authority (NBA)
The Niger Basin Authority was established in 1980 by the nine riparian countries. The Executive Secretariat is based in Niamey (Republic of Niger). In each of the nine member countries, NBA National Focal Structures exist to introduce regional resources policy at the level of the member countries, on the one hand, and to act as contact for regional projects. On the other hand, they represent the member countries’ important interests at the regional level. However, the lack of an investment component for the protection of groundwater resources in the Niger River basin in terms of ecology and water resources management is an issue. Hydro-geological data of the Niger Basin is barely available and unstructured or outdated. This data therefore does not provide a sufficient basis for sustainable management. NBA can only implement an integrated water resources management (IWRM), when both the surface and groundwater resources and their mutual interactions are known.
Groundwater sampling and installation of data collection equipment in the South of Niger
Source: Kolja Bosch
The Project
The third phase of the project continues to support the Niger Basin Authority by the collection and evaluation of groundwater relevant data as well as the formulation of recommendations for a sustainable and transboundary management of groundwater resources. One of the key elements is the initiation of a working group consisting of young hydrogeology experts from the member countries, which should focus on the above-mentioned groundwater topics.
The project is part of the "NBA Integrated Water Resources Management" program of the German Development Cooperation and supports the Niger Basin Authority in including measures for groundwater protection and sustainable use of groundwater in their strategic and operational planning. The training and education of NBA employees and the relevant authorities in the member countries are key requirements. The project activities aim to sensitize NBA in the field of groundwater management, thus pave the way for later organizational measures for its integration. The integration shall improve the people’s living conditions within the river catchment area in the medium to long term.
After the second phase, the aim of current project is to strengthen the capacities of ABN and their member countries for the sustainable management of the groundwater resource in the Niger basin.
The project activities include:
- Establishment of a cross-border technical working group made up of junior experts on hydrogeological issues. The young people are to develop skills in the field of groundwater management and anchor them sustainably in the region for improving the livelihood of the population.
- Continuation of the collection of information / data in the members countries, so that they can then be used within the framework of a regional measuring network to record important groundwater information and data.
- The collected data will serve to develop thematic maps and to formulate recommendations for action for national and trans-boundary groundwater management.
- Creation or establishment of an overview map of stress factors for groundwater resources, which will help taking a good decisions.
- Development of strategies / concepts for the improvement of the groundwater measuring point networks in the members’ countries contributes to sustainability of the basis for groundwater resource management.
- Availability and distribution of the developed products (through information exchange).
- Continuation of the measurement campaign in the two pilot zones for the establishment of a consistent / dense information database.
- Development of a mechanism for the exchange of the collected information / data between ABN and member countries.
Project contributions:
Literature:
Factsheet: Support in Groundwater Management to the Niger Basin Authority
Partner:
Niger Basin Authority (NBA) in Niamey/Niger