The Land and Water Division (CBL) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Partnership for Agricultural Water for Africa (AgWA), and the Senegal River Basin Organization (OMVS) had a Roundtable to share insights on Agricultural Water Management for a common understanding of the potentials and challenges related to transboundary water management in Senegal River Basin, and to ensure integration, common coordination and harmonization between OMVS and other partners. The Roundtable was organized at OMVS Headquarters in Dakar for 24-25 January 2017 within the framework of an FAO Technical Cooperation Project entitled “Enhanced cross-boundary water resource management in the Senegal River Basin”.
The project was launched in October 2016 in support of the Senegal Basin countries to achieve a more efficient cross-boundary water utilization and management. The project is set on four basic pillars: (1) Improved tools for multi-objective water resources management (hydro-agricultural component, fisheries component); (2) Established hydro-economic modelling for Senegal Basin and sub-basins and increased understanding of benefits of joint water resources management; (3) Identification of cross-boundary investment areas to enhance cooperative and joint management of water resources; and (4) Assessment of trade-offs between water for energy production and water for agriculture/fisheries development. It is essential to the project to align with the three Regional Initiatives led by OMVS: The PARACI (Plan d’Action Régional pour l’Amélioration des Cultures Irriguée), the PGIRE (Le Programme de Gestion Intégrée des Ressources en Eau et de Développement des Usages Multiples dans le Bassin du fleuve Sénégal), and the SDAGE (Schema Directeur d’Aménagement et de Gestion des Eaux).
During the Roundtable, participants were able to share their different points of view and earlier experiences; and to take common decisions regarding the project and its path of implementation.

Presentations