An Introduction to Water Economics and Governance in Southern Africa

02/02/2012 - Article

Notes for the course on water economics and governance run by IWEGA (International Centre for Water Economics and Governance in Africa). Available as a free download, in English and Portuguese.

Over the past two decades or so, countries in Africa have launched in-depth reforms of water management and policy. New institutional and governance systems have been introduced, centring on the principles set out in the paradigm of integrated water resource management, such as decentralization, stakeholder participation and the economic value of water. Economic instruments such as efficiency and the polluter pays principle form the foundations of incentives aimed at ensuring efficient water use.

It is vital that decision-makers know of and be capable of handling the basic concepts of water saving if they are to draft and implement policies aimed at alleviating poverty, preserving the environment and using water resources rationally and efficiently.

It was this that prompted IWEGA (International Centre for Water Economics and Governance in Africa), of which CIRAD is a founding member, to launch a course in 2011, on water economics and governance, as part of the Masters in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics offered by Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo.

The book "An Introduction to Water Economics and Governance in Southern Africa" is actually the course notes for this initiative. It is available as a free download, in English and Portuguese, and serves as the basis for the sessions run by IWEGA within the regional WaterNet network.

The book, published with financial support from the French Embassy in Mozambique, has nine chapters on the following topics: Water and development; Water as an economic good; Water valuation; Cost benefit analysis for water resource development; Externalities; Policies for pollution control and water quality improvement; Water institutions and governance; Water pricing; and Water allocation.

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An Introduction to Water Economics and Governance in Southern Africa
Stefano Farolfi, Joao Mutondo and Bruno Araujo
Imprensa universitaria
2011