 Chinese Journal of Population, Resources and Environment Vol.8 No.1 March 2010 SWOT Analysis and Challenges of Nile Basin Initiative: An Integrated Water Resource Management Perspective Alebel Abebe Belay, Henry Musoke Semakula, George James Wambura, Labohy Jan Virje University, Brussels 1090, Belgium Key words: river basin management, Nile Basin Initiative, SWOT analysis, integrated water management, River Nile 1 Introduction It is on record that River Nile is one of the world’s lon- gest transboundary rivers flowing a distance of more than 6700 kilometres from its farthest source at the head- waters of the Kagera Basin in Rwanda and Burundi to the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt. Its catchment basin covers approximately 10% of the African continent and the river is shared by 10 riparian countries which include Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. The Basin contains an extraordinarily rich and varied range of ecosystems, with mountains, tropical forests, woodlands, savannas, high and low altitude wetlands, arid lands and deserts (World Bank, 2008). Since the Nile wa- ters do not stop at administrative or political boundaries, the river basin has been of great importance as regards hu- man settlement, development of a rich diversity of cultures, civilisation and development for centuries. As of today, the Nile is a crucial resource for the economic development of the Nile Basin countries and a vital source of livelihood for 160 million inhabitants as well as 300 million people living in the ten riparian countries (World Bank, 2008). It is esti- mated that in the next 25 years, the population in the Nile basin will be 600 million. Nevertheless, for decades, the Nile Basin people have been facing many complex environmental, social, eco- nomic and political challenges that have made it dificult for the proper management and sustainability of Nile water. Such problems include among others, disputes and conlicts over the control and use of the Nile waters; extreme poverty, food insecurity; droughts; loods; envi - ronmental degradation exacerbated by high population Abstract: River Nile is one of the longest transboundery rivers and it is shared and used by Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tan- zania and Uganda. As of today, the Nile is a crucial resource for the economic development of the Nile Basin countries and a vital source of livelihood for 160 million inhabitants as well as 300 million people living in the 10 riparian countries. The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) is one of the international cooperative river basin management program and regional partnership where all the Nile Basin countries except Eritrea unite to pursue long-term sustain- able development, improved land use practices and management. This review therefore focused on the challenges not faced on NBI in terms of integrated use of the river and conducted analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) based on secondary data. The result of the review revealed that for decades, the Nile Basin people have been facing many complex environmental, social, economic and political challenges that have made it dificult for the proper management and sustainability of Nile water. The initiative provides training to develop skills in government ministries, non-governmental organizations and local communities in each country. It is also working to raise aware- ness of critical environmental issues by strengthening networks of environmental education practitioners; developing curriculum in the education sector. The challenges of NBI include the in- volvement and funding of World Bank, lack of sufficient staff, procedural and policies conlicts, lack of coordination and linkage with other regional institutions and lack of recognition as river basin organization. Considering the complex nature of the project, it is recommended that the NBI should come up with a strong multi-disciplinary monitoring and evaluation team to follow up all implemented projects. The NBI should carry out participatory land use planning in communities along the river basin. Moreover, livelihood analysis should be carried out especially in communi- ties along the Nile to come up with poverty eradication projects which are socially acceptable, applicable, economically viable and affordable. Received 15 December 2009; Accepted 25 December 2009 Corresponding author: Alebel Abebe Belay (abelay@vub.ac.be) 2—belay(8-17).indd 8 2010-3-19 17:46:05