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CARNEGIE - RISE (Regional Initiative in Science and Education)

Sub-Saharan Africa Water Resources Network (2008-2016)

The RISE programme was aimed at strengthening higher education in the sciences and engineering by increasing the population of skilled Ph.D. and M.Sc. scientists and engineers teaching in Africa's universities. RISE was supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, which was created by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote "the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding". The Science Initiative Group (SIG) housed within the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), Princeton University, New Jersey, USA, led the RISE initiative in consultation with African partners including the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), based in Nairobi, Kenya. AAS were the initiative's co-administrator (http://sites.ias.edu/sig/rise).

The Institute for Advanced Study provided the administrative home for SIG whose mission is to strengthen science and its use in the developing world. It has helped create research and training programs in Chile, Brazil, Mexico and Uganda, financed by The World Bank and governments.

The mission of the African Academy of Sciences was to provide leadership in science and technology (S&T) innovations in Africa and to bring S&T solutions to bear on the socioeconomic challenges that Africa is currently facing.

Sub-Saharan African Water Resources Network

The Sub-Saharan African Water Resource Network (SSAWRN) was one of five networks that received funding through the Carnegie-IAS Regional Initiative in Science and Education (RISE: see http://sites.ias.edu/sig/rise) for the period of 2008-2016. The objective of the network was to develop academic capacity in sub-Saharan Africa in the field of water resource science. This network built upon existing networks related to the same scientific field, including the UNESCO Southern Africa FRIEND (Flow Regimes from International Experimental and Network Data) programme and WATERNET. The FRIEND programme is largely a research network, but it has an emphasis on post-graduate student development and links to the national water management agencies in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). WATERNET is a regional (southern and east Africa) network of 52 university departments and research and training institutes, with the objectives to build regional institutional and human capacity in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). WATERNET has very similar objectives to RISE and one of its main activities is the regional course-work MSc in water resources.

Further information can be found about these two programmes through the following links:

• www.ru.ac.za/institutes/iwr/friend/index.html
• www.waternetonline.ihe.nl

The institutions in the Sub-Saharan Africa Water Resources Network are:

• Institute for Water Research (IWR), Rhodes University (Grahamstown, South Africa; http://www.ru.ac.za/iwr/)
• Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Makerere Waternetwork, Makerere University (Kampala, Uganda; http://vetmed.mak.ac.ug/n/)
• Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre (HOORC), University of Botswana (Maun, Botswana; http://www.orc.ub.bw/)
• Department of Geology, Eduardo Mondlane University (Maputo, Mozambique; http://www.ciencias.uem.mz/)

Academic Director:

Prof. Denis A Hughes

Institute for Water Research

Rhodes University, South Africa

Secretariat:

Dr Sukhmani Mantel

Water Resource Problems, Science and Solutions

Water resource science should be seen as a multi- and inter-disciplinary science that addresses the problems and issues associated with managing water resources, including surface and groundwater water quantity, water quality and related ecological dependencies, water use and its management. The focus in sub-Saharan Africa needs to be on fundamental and applied science that can contribute to the solution of the diverse problems facing the region in terms of securing adequate (in terms of quantity and quality) water supplies that are environmentally sustainable. There are many water related pressures facing the region, including declining observation networks (and therefore a decline in the information available for management), declining human capacity, increasing resource use and the very real possibility of increasing resource variability associated with future climates. As the region strives toward improving both political and economic stability, the importance of providing secure water supplies will assume increasing significance. If this is neglected, there is the potential for conflicts within communities (through a lack of water and sanitation services provision) as well as between countries (through a lack of agreement on transboundary sharing of water resources).

The development of solutions to sub-Saharan Africa water resource problems is currently hindered by a shortage of trained personnel, especially at high levels of academic and professional expertise. This gap is frequently filled by consultants from outside the region who may contribute to the solution of specific problems, but do little to contribute to longer-term development of capacity within the region. The SSAWRN has been designed to contribute to the development of this capacity using existing networks of university scientists within the region who also work closely with and have the support of local water resource professionals and scientists outside the region.

Research Areas

There are many research opportunities in the field of water resource science within sub-Saharan Africa and covering many basic disciplines including civil engineering, geography, hydrology, ecology, water quality, geology and environmental science. The following table shows the diversity of degrees and fields of postgraduate degrees supported by the network.

SSAWRN Institutions / Nodes

The Institute for Water Research is currently well placed to supervise a number of students with two experienced supervisors in Prof Hughes (hydrology and water resource management) and Dr Nikite Muller (water quality and ecotoxicology), as well as access to additional supervisors through junior research staff and through allied departments at Rhodes University. The IWR currently supervises 7 PhD and 3 MSc students. The IWR has many links with research institutions within sub-Saharan Africa, as well as outside the region. It is well placed to organize additional support through specialized training workshops, scientific exchanges with other universities and additional supervision for students being trained as part of the proposed network.

University of Botswana (Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre - HOORC) is situated near Maun, Botswana's northwestern Ngamiland capital on the fringe of the Okavango Delta. HOORC specialises in natural resource management research, with a primary focus on influencing policy makers on the region's most pressing environmental issues. Multi- disciplinary in approach, the Centre initiates, coordinates and promotes research and assists with environmental monitoring. It aims to develop and implement educational strategies for the sustainable use of resources in order to promote the long-term conservation of the Okavango and other regional wetlands. Employing 25 academic staff and 35 support staff, HOORC has over 50 research and development projects in progress in a wide range of scientific fields, many in collaboration with international partners. HOORC is a member of the international Global Wetland Consortium.

Makerere University, Uganda (Various departments). The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (FVM) has capacity in water related sciences particularly aquatic toxicology and aquatic environmental health. In addition, there is a young network which has been formed, the Makerere waternetwork, whose membership is broad with both senior and upcoming researchers, with interest in water sciences. The faculty also works closely with the National Fisheries Resources Research Institute in training and research. This institute particularly has enormous technical capacity in water sciences.

Eduardo Mondlane University (Department of Geology) in Mozambique is able to supervise MSc students and to host a post-doctoral fellowship. This capacity has been assumed during the first phase of the project, but the intention is to increase the capacity during the project and to ensure that their MSc students are given every opportunity to register for PhD degrees.

Last Modified: Fri, 28 Apr 2023 12:37:39 SAST