Environmental Resources and People of the Upper Nile River

Shasta Bowen

May 3, 2022

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Northern Nile River

This report explores the physical and social attributes of the Nile River, specializing on the Northern part of the Nile River.

Map

The Nile River begins in Lake Victoria and flows North over 4,100 miles through Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan and ends up flowing into the Mediteranian out of Egypt.

Northern Nile River Map

This map shows what countries I will be focusing on for this project.

Physical Attributes

The Nile River is full of narrow cliffs, large boulders, and there are six non navigatable cateracts, or rapids in the Northern part of the Nile (National Geographic Society). Annually, the river floods and creates immense siltation.

Siltation

The Nile has rich soil, and when the river floods,it causes siltation in the water. The historian Herodotus called Egypt the “Gift of the Nile.” (National Geographic Society). This nutrient rich soil has been a great gift for agriculture and feeding local populations.

Plant Nutrients

The siltation in the water provides the shores with fertile soils, causing a distinct difference between the shore and surrounding areas. (National Geographic Society). This is highly beneficial for food production and agriculture.

Flooding

Egyptians depended on flooding to grow their crops. A thick layer of black sediment would result from flooding, and that helped provide a good crop yield for the year.(National Geographic Society)

Source of Water

The Nile provides locals with drinking water, bathing water, and food sources. (Williams 1)

Even the ancient calender of the Egyptians was based on the Nile River.

(Haney 1)

Pollution

The large amount of silt is creating a natural dam, and not allowing water to flow as quickly. The Nile in result holds more garbage and pollution. (National Geographic Society) I saw this firsthand when I visited Uganda in February 2022.

Climate Impacts on the Nile River Basin

It is predicted that climate change will increase the standard deviation of the Nile’s flow by about 50 percent. This will then cause drought and flooding. It also affects Africa's food and water security and threatens African's agricultural, economic, and cultural livelihoods. Increased temperature and changing rainfall patterns also cause an effect. (Schaefer).

Climate Impacts on Food Production

There are many natural assets on the Nile River Basin. More than fifty percent of the river is used as cropland (Nile Awareness Kit). Crops such as rice, flax, papyrus, sugar cane, and rice are grown here. If the climate patterns change drastically due to climate change, food production will not be productive in feeding the local populations. Many of the crops, including rice farming, use a lot of water, has and will be significantly reduced in Egypt causing food insecurity. (Nile Awareness Kit).

Climate Impacts on Ecosystems

There are many different types of climates throughout the banks of the Nile. The Nile River provides habitat for many species of bushes and grasses along with fish and large mammals. Climate change will cause many species to become extinct. (UNEP). Fish will become endangered and overfished as the water levels of the river decline (UNEP). The land surrounding the basin will be less fertile and therefore have less grass species present. This affects lions, antelope, and other animals who use grass as camouflage (UNEP).

Climate Impacts on People

257 Million people live on the banks of the Nile River (National Geographic Society). Because of climate change, there will be a variation of precipitation, land degradation, reduced river flow, flooding, droughts, deforestation, and loss of species and ecosystems and increased incidences of disease. (Schaefer). 80 percent of diseases are transmitted through water (UNEP).

Vulnerable People

86 percent of Egypt’s lands fall within the driest areas worldwide, which due to climate change, desertification will result as well as a lack of water that could result in water poverty (State Information Service). Water poverty means that locals have little access to clean drinking water. Agriculture and peoples' wellbeing will be affected and they may need to become climate refugees. They will have to move off their homeland to find somewhere with clean drinking water.

Adaptation to Hardship

Egyptian citizens attend many different conferences around the world to show they prioritize climate change. Egypt is now funding climate change studies and has a global influence among other world leaders. Conferences also help restore degraded ecosystems and lands, with goals to combat land degradation and desertification (State Information Service). Egypt also offers workshops to oil, electrical, agriculture, and health sectors about the importance of ecosystems. This country works with different sectors to bring a sense of community and to present the common goal, combat climate change.

Human Adaptation to Climate Change

See the interactive map below for a more in depth look at human adaptations by country.

Citations

_{“Egypt and Climate Change.” State Information Service, Nov. 2021, https://www.sis.gov.eg/Story/160255/Egypt-and-Climate-Change?lang=en-us.}

_{Haney, Lisa Saladino. “Egypt and the Nile.” Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 6 Oct. 2021, https://carnegiemnh.org/egypt-and-the-nile/.}

_{National Geographic Society. “Nile River.” National Geographic Society, 21 Feb. 2019, https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/nile-river/.}

_{Williams, Shiann. “The Benefits of the Nile River.” Prezi.com, 29 Feb. 2016, https://prezi.com/yqdcp5zogp4z/the-benefits-of-the-nile-river/.}

More Citations

_{"Importance of Environmental Management." Nile River Awareness Kit. Nile Basin Initiative, n.d. Web. 16 May 2014.}

_{Schaefer, Sarah. “Climate Change: The Nile River.” Climate Change: The Nile River, Middle East Policy Council, 2020, https://mepc.org/}

_{Staff Member. “What Are the Physical Features of the Nile River?” Reference, IAC Publishing, 2020, https://www.reference.com/geography/}

_{UN Environmental Programme. “Adaptation to Climate Change Induced Stress in the Nile Basin.” UNEP, 2017, https://www.unep.org/}

^{The World Bank. “Climate Change in Sudan-If You Can't Beat It, Adapt to It.” The World Bank, World Bank Group, 10 Aug. 2021, https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2021.}

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Nile River

Where the Nile River meets the Mediterranean Sea can be seen from the International Space Station.

Sudan

Due to the warming Earth, desertification is already affecting water supply, crop production, and rural communities. The Sudan Sustainable Natural Resources Management Project (SSNRMP) created an incentive-driven model to sustainably manage natural resources while making an economic profit. Seeds were given out and as a result, 74.4% of beneficiaries in the White Nile region were able to grow enough food to feed their families (The World Bank).

Ethiopia

Ethiopia's fight is focused on alleviating climate change. They have been planting many trees and building a large dam that will provide electricity to almost the entire country. Unfortunately, this is a maladaptation, meaning by building this large dam, it will create undesirable consequences (drought) for Sudan and other neighboring countries. The dam will cut off water supply to the people downstream (Sudanese). The countries are currently working together to solve this issue before the dam is built.

South Sudan

In 2021, South Sudan was hit with a huge change in weather patterns which caused immense flooding. This storm left 5.5m homeless. South Sudan has many connections with the United Nations and are currently thinking of new strategies to combat climate change in regards to their large population.

Uganda

UgUganda is focused on improving their farming habits, especially by developing drip irrigation, solar heating, and using bore holes for water. I saw this firsthand when I visited Uganda in February 2022.

THE FUTURE

The future of the Upper Nile River and its inhabitants depends completely on us. We need to think about three transformation qualities, including practical, political, and structural. The most urgent issues of the Upper Nile River basin include pollution, and changes in water flow (which has adverse affects like decline in usable cropland and animal and people displacement). Pollution is an important issues that falls to the community. To counter pollution of the river, the surrounding countries must work together. On a practical level, for example, there has to be a system for disposing trash other than placing it in the river. Through politics, we can change the structure and appeal to many different people. I would suggest instead of offering a fine for illegal dumping, maybe offer a cash payout (or free meal) when trash is disposed of in the correct manner (such as a landfill). The personal type of transformation is going to be the hardest to implement on the Upper Nile River basin. Not only do we need to shift minds of one country into thinking about the environmental future, we need to influence eight different countries and help them learn to work together. This will not be an easy task and I do not believe that the United States needs to go "white savior" on these countries.

The best way to influence African countries towards a more sustainable future is to provide funding, education, vocational training, and learn about the existing practices and cultures of the specific countries. Let's make sure the consequences of polluting the Nile River are known the surrounding inhabitants. As for the consequences of climate change, the river flow will change affecting crops and displacing people and animals. It is important to keep educating people about the risks of climate change, and maybe that will push the inhabitants of the river to influence individual action and lead to collective action. Let's continue to advocate for clean, safe water sources and healthy, happy people.