Research units

Water Resource Management, Actors and Uses

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Stefano Farolfi
Water Management, Stakeholders and Uses Joint Research Unit (CEMAGREF, CIRAD, ENGREF, IRD)
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Southern Africa: CIRAD is at the heart of a new centre of excellence on water

10/06/2009 - Article

The new International Centre for Water Economics and Governance in Africa, IWEGA, was launched in May 2009 by two universities and a research centre in Africa, along with the G-EAU joint research unit, of which CIRAD is a member. It is due to act as a regional platform to coordinate research and training in the field of water.

The new International Centre for Water Economics and Governance in Africa, IWEGA, was set up to help African researchers conduct research on water economics and governance and raise awareness of this field among decision-makers. It was launched in May 2009 and comprises researchers from the G-EAU joint research unit (UMR G-EAU), Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) in Maputo and the Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy in Africa (CEEPA) at the University of Pretoria. The aim is to constitute a centre of excellence in terms of research and higher education for eastern and southern Africa in the fields of water economics and governance, with a target of both degree and non-degree training. CIRAD's Stefano Farolfi is to be its Scientific Director.
"For UMR G-EAU and CIRAD, IWEGA will act as a regional platform to coordinate and conduct research and training operations in a given field, and for a given zone, which are now top priorities for French scientific cooperation activities ", Stefano Farolfi explains. "The centre has already received declarations of interest from international donors such as the World Bank, the World Resource Institute and the Development Bank of Southern Africa », he adds.
Short training courses for water professionals and users will be on offer, and a regional Masters in water economics and governance, the first in Africa, is currently being set up. Masters teaching should begin in 2011. IWEGA will also be supplying decision support tools. Lastly, a set of short notes will regularly be made available to policy makers, in the three Southern African Development Community (SADC) languages.