Senegal: FAO and its national partners validate the water tenure assessment report
On June 1, 2022, a two-day workshop was held in Dakar, Senegal, to review the water tenure assessment report in Gorom-Lampsar axis and Podor Cuvette, the Senegal River Basin. As a result of the workshop, the partners validated the water tenure assessment report.
This assessment was carried out by the project "Knowing water better: towards a more equitable and sustainable access to natural resources for greater food security" (KnoWat) implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with the financial support of the Government of Germany, with the aim of improving water governance.
Mr Ibrahima Faye, Programme Manager at the FAO Representation in Senegal, explained that access to water and its supply is a major issue that will worsen in the coming decades. "More than two billion people in the world do not have access to drinking water. Several international organizations, including the United Nations, regularly draw up an alarming report, showing that access to water remains a source of socio-economic inequality," said Mr. Faye at the opening ceremony of the workshop.
According to Faye, Senegal, although endowed with a significant potential of water resources, faces challenges of accessibility and governance of water and the KnoWat project provides innovative tools which contribute to the improvement of water governance.
Mr Faye indicated that the KnoWat project has adopted an integrated approach consisting of three key components: the assessment of water productivity using WaPOR, water accounting and auditing and the assessment of water tenure. The project has allowed for an in-depth evaluation of water tenure in the two mentioned areas of the Senegal River basin.
Indeed, after more than a year of in-depth research, documentation, interviews and field visits, the KnoWat team of experts presented the results of their work on the evaluation of water tenure in the Senegal River Basin. "The objective is to review the results of this study for validation at the national level," explained Younoussa Mballo, Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Equipment. He highlighted that the validation workshops have already been organized last month at the local level, particularly in Saint Louis and Podor.
>> Register here to participate in the presentation on the results of the water tenure assessment in Senegal (Monday, 20 June 2022, 13.00 CET)