From Aswan to Stiegler’s Gorge : small stories about large dams

Abstract

Dams, irrigation systems and hydropolitics are back on the geopolitical agenda. In recent years, we have seen an accelerating interest in large-scale water infrastructures, such as multipurpose dams and irrigation schemes, in the Nile Region and adjacent catchment areas. Governments in these regions are struggling to increase food security and to provide more energy in the face of industrialisation, climate change and rapid urban growth. The tension between countries over access to water will probably rise, as spells of drought increase in length and intensity. This small anthology presents seven chapters on dam building processes and projects from Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania. It aims to deepen the understanding of the role of dams in development strategies in Africa and it problematizes why some dams are implemented while others are not, and the decision-making processes behind building either irrigation, hydropower or multi-purpose dams. Written in a short and consistent genre, it targets academics and policy makers interested in dam discourses and water infrastructure development.

CONTENTS: Preface and Acknowledgements. -1. What are rivers for? Some theoretical issues of building dams and nations / Helga Ögmundardóttir. - 2. The First Aswan Dam in Egypt – a useful pyramid? / Terje Oestigaard. - 3. Smallholder-managed large-scale irrigation schemes in Ethiopia / Atakilte Beyene. - 4. A billion-dollar ritual: Spirit appeasement ceremonies behind the Bujagali Dam / Terje Oestigaard. - 5. The dam that was never built: The Stiegler’s Gorge project in Tanzania / Kjell Havnevik. - 6. The Stiegler’s Gorge project in Tanzania: the dam that will be built? / Kjell Havnevik. - 7. Storing Nile waters upstream: Hydropolitical implications of dam-building in Sudan and Ethiopia / Ana Elisa Cascão. - Index.