The presentation first guides to the challenges of water management. First are old challenges related poor conditions and physical deterioration of irrigation and drainage systems; while new ones such as the rising number of farming units not aligned with hydraulic boundaries; variety of crops grown therefore diverging irrigation schedules; mismatch between on-farm irrigation system and smaller farming units; and dissolution of former water management units of collective farms.

Most African countries underwent water legislation reform since the 1990s, through

which existing plural legal systems were changed into nation-wide permit systems, in

which the state acts as custodian of the nation’s water resources. Although globally

heralded as the best way to manage water resources within the broader context of

Integrated Water Resource Management, this project examines the problematic

implications of the new laws for the majority of the rural and peri-urban poor. Since time

In early May 2011, people working on the Nile Basin Development Challenge (http://nilebdc.org) met in Addis Ababa in a 'science and reflection workshop'. In this session 4 of the workshop, participants discussed what-how-why of some of the different aspects of water and productivity across Nile projects. This video contains video reports from the group discussions