Published in ?Tropical Medicine and International Health, Vol.6, No.1, pp.46-54, January 2001.? The complete article is available on the CD-ROM version of this Annual Report.

This publication reports on a study of the increase in river salinity and the implemented control programs in five major irrigated basins in the arid zone. The study is limited to salinity.

The objectives are this vision document are to: 1) suggest guidelines and steps towards deiserble policy shifts; 2) compile an understanding of the issues and probable technical solutions that require appropriate policy shifts, based on the experiences of different development partners working in these areas; and 3) envision outcomes for the four components of the GBDC.

This paper draws lessons from two years of work with ‘innovation platforms’ that were established by the Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC) program in an attempt to strengthen landscape-level rainwater management in Ethiopia. The NDBC’s work included the use of an innovation fund to support pilot interventions.