Emerging Counter Hydro-Hegemonic Strategies i...

Emerging Counter Hydro-Hegemonic Strategies in the Nile Basin: A Case of Ethiopia

Author Name : Dr. Intikhab Ahmad, Dr. Asmita Bakshi

ABSTRACT

Ethiopia is a country of paradoxes. Poverty in the midst of biotic plenty and thirst in the midst of hydrological abundance define contemporary Ethiopia. Contributing 86 percent of the Nile flow, the country is hydrologically the wealthiest in the entire Nile basin. Yet it ranks among the bottom ten countries globally in terms of its inability to harness water resources to better livelihood for its citizens. The upper riparianparticularly Ethiopia are claiming their rights to utilize the Nile water and increasingly demanding a fair share of the Nile water. The basin’s hydro-political settings are featured by complex and frequently increased requirements for access to water by riparians. The paper focuses on Ethiopian’s challenges or the counter hydro-hegemony of Ethiopia to the Egyptian hegemony on the Nile River. Various scholars think that, historically Ethiopia was a silent partner in the Nile Basin and have not challenged Egyptian unilateralism. Ethiopian government neither prioritized its water sector nor developed a coherent policy to developed Nile water, but recently Ethiopia started demanding its share to develop its resources; to expand its agriculture, provide food security and eradicate the poverty by Nile water.

Keywords: Counter hydro-hegemon, Nile Basin, Ethiopia