A 'Seat at the Table' : Constraints to Stakeholder Involvement-The Case of the Nile Basin Initiative in Ethiopia

Involvement in the decision-making and governance of shared international water resources is generally accepted as a viable strategy for enhancing stakeholder support, cooperation among riparian nations, and the reduction of conflicts. The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) was created in 1999 by ten African countries to facilitate cooperation and the sharing of benefits from the Nile. Prior to this transitory compact, eight riparian nations were prohibited from using the water by colonial treaties signed in 1929 and 1959. With the new compact in place one would expect Ethiopia, a country that contributes 86 percent of the total water flow but consumes only one percent, to be more involved in the decisions that affect the sharing of Nile waters. To the contrary, involvement by the country's nongovernmental stakeholders has been missing. This book explores the constraints to such involvement in Ethiopia. Pluralist theory is used as the lens of analysis. Policy makers, academics,and researchers will find this book invaluable.