Land Acquisitions: How will they impact Transboundary Waters?

Workshop on Responding to the Global Food Security Challengethrough Coordinated Land and Water Governance

A joint GWP-ILC-IWMI initiative15-16 June, Pretoria, South Africa

Anton EarleDirector of the Africa Regional Centre

Stockholm International Water Institute

Outline of presentation

• Transboundary water context

• Land investments

• Land and water connection

• Conclusions

Study aimed to link impacts of land acquisitionon TWM

• More information on the topic in this report:– Jägerskog, A., Cascao,

A., Hårsmar, M. and Kim. K., (2012), ”Land Acquisitions: How Will They Impact Transboundary Waters?”. Report Nr. 30, SIWI, Stockholm

• Downloadable from:www.siwi.org

Transboundary Water – the global picture

Framework for Analysis

Level Drivers Actors Benefits Impacts Status

Global

Regional / Basin

National

Local

• Applied to two cases:

– Niger

– Nile

Drivers of investments in Land

• Following after global food crisis 2007-2008

• Lack of water and/or land (in investing countries)

• Relative abundance of water and land (in countrieswhere investments are happening)

• ’Real’ as well as ’perception’ of climate change

• Cheap labour, weak legislation in some productioncountries

• State sovereignty, security; and control over supplychains.

Problems/Challenges

• Lack of reliable data – scale of investments are unclear• Water often ignored (or taken for granted)• Costs-benefits accrue at different levels of scale – equity, poverty and

gender dimensions not considered• What are the investments for:

– Local food? – Food export? – Energy (biofuels)? – Mixed use development (dams for irrigation + hydro energy)?– Or speculation (i. e not using land productively)?

• What water? – Green,– Blue,– Transboundary.

International Principles

• ”Responsible Agro-Investments”, RAI principles form 2010 – FAO, IFAD and UNCTAD - focus on:

- Land

- Food security

- Transparency and participation

- Shared value

- Minimising risks

• Water implicitly recognised but not spelt out.

• UN Convention on Interntional Watercourses (1997) is not clear about direct water use by outside actros. Article 6 Factors relevant to equitable and reasonable utilization:– (b) The social and economic needs of the watercourse States concerned;

– (c) The population dependent on the watercourse in each watercourse State;

Key messages (1)

• Land investment is a water investment. Water is often presumed to be included without explicitly being mentioned in land lease agreements.

• Regional Economic Communities (RECs), River Basin Organisations (RBOs) and regional organisations have little or no role in the land acquisitions on record to date. Large land deals will, however, very likely impact their mandate and ability to function.

• The type of water (green water or blue water and the intensity of its use) used for the land investments determines its effect on transboundary water management.

Key messages (2)

• Water that is being used for irrigation in land leased by foreign parties does not feature in the transboundary discussions in many, if not all, shared basins.

• Cultural ties and migration plays a role, with links between countries following historical patters (e.g. MIDROC Group of Saudi Arabia has 6 projects in Ethiopia)

• Water needs should be put into the land acquisition contracts in order to clarify the water requirements of the investors´projectsand to regulate their water use.

• Sustainable water use should be acknowledged explicitly in the international standards for responsible agro-business investments.

Study aimed to link impacts of land acquisitionon TWM

• More information on the topic in this report:– Jägerskog, A., Cascao,

A., Hårsmar, M. and Kim. K., (2012), ”Land Acquisitions: How Will They Impact Transboundary Waters?”. Report Nr. 30, SIWI, Stockholm

• Downloadable from:www.siwi.org

Anton EarleDirector of the Africa Regional Centre

Stockholm International Water InstituteAnton.earle@siwi.org