Eritrean NDF Public Debate

Eritrean NDF: Public Debate
One of the Eritrean NDF work programme is to broaden knowledge and develop communication systems and through conducting public debate to raise public awareness. The purpose of the debate is to enhance public know-how and develop communication network on water and Nile issue thus lead to overall development issues. Eritrea NDF public debate on the Nile Based on the above objectives a public debate was conducted on Thursday 6th September 2007 in the conference hall of the Toker Integrated Community Development (TICD). The summary of the debate was as follows: Date: 06/09/2007. Time 8:30 AM. Venue: TICD Conference hall The Public debate was started with an opening statement from the coordinator of the NDF, Mr. Berhane Mogos. In his statement he mentioned that these kinds of debates are necessary in upgrading the understanding of the people and experts in fields related to the Nile Basin Discourse (NBD) thus led to development. Then the floor was open for debaters. Eritrean discussions on Nile issues The public debate was organized into two parts. The first part focused on “Agricultural Resource management in the Setit basin” and the second part “Water Resource management in Setit basin". Within each part two debaters were invited and presented their concept papers. The first debater was Mr. Hadgu Ghebrenderias, Coordinator of the Eritrean Sustainable Natural Resources Management Forum (ER-SNRMF) and forestry expert and the moderator Mr. Bereke Okbaamichael, TICD project Coordinator. The debater presented about forestry under the first topic. After clearly describing area of Setit, its location, altitude temperature, rainfall land use species and other important futures of the area, he described the people to have a total dependence on the forest and he further described a serious degradation resulted in from the forest destruction. Continuing his lecture, he mentioned the future prospects of forestry which are: Protection/conservation of forest using enclosures, assurance of sense of ownership and erosion control Developments of multi-age canopy, long term sustainability, and increase areas under forest eradicate unnecessary plants, introduction of improved stoves and other fuel conserving innovations and last but not least conduct of research were the recommended methods by the expert. Then the floor was open to the audience. The comments and suggestions forwarded were: The importance of Agro forestry should be mentioned The enclosures are recommended as one way of conservation More emphasis should be given to erosion intensity and erodability Shifting cultivation as a means of deforestation The conflict of interest between pastoralists, commercial farmers and peasant farmers The introduction of wild life and conservation issues. The floor was then discussed on these things and agreed on that there should be a deep studies on the specific fields. Eritrean public debate on Nile issues The second presenter was Mr. Okbit Bahta from Toker project, Extension and Horticulture Expert and moderator was the same person who acted as a moderator in the first topic and was, Mr. Bereke Okbaamichael. Mr. Okbit’s presentation focused on “Horticultural production” of the small scale horticultural farmers in the basin area. He explained that in order to improve the living standard of the small scale farmers, there should be provision of improved seed, digging wells, provision of water pumps, capacity building and other developmental activities. Then the floor forwarded important comments and stated that the debate would be of great use in improving the livelihood of the community and the debate need to include livestock production, home economics and other related fields of agriculture. Public debate in Eritrea on NIle issues On the second part of the debate, “Water Resource management in Setit basin”, the first debator was Mr. Sengal Woldetensae from Water Resource Department - Water Expert, and the moderator was Mr Asghedom Tewolde, IWRM coordinator. In his presentation he clearly stated that so far there is no adequate database on ground waters that we can depend on. However, there is some data on surface water. With this inadequate information, it is difficult to estimate the potentiality of an area for agriculture or other developmental activities. Thus the main interrelated constraints in this field of study are: Lack of database on ground water Lack of information on the demand of water for domestic use or other developmental activities Which to prioritize as far as water utility is concerned (priority for human consumption or ecosystem maintenance). Continuing his presentation, he gave detailed information on the future estimates of water consumption in the Setit basin for both livestock and cultivation. After his presentation, the floor discussed on the topics and suggested the need of more information. Public debate on Nile issues organized in Eritrea The second debater on the second topic was Mr. Daniel Yohannes from Water Resource Department - Water Expert; and the moderator was Mr. Asghedom Tewolde. Mr. Daniel on his part focused on the strategies for efficient use of ground waters. He stated that the best method is to design “dynamic balance strategy”. He also added that since there is no clear information on the ground water, it is difficult to convey the real information. The debate was quite constructive with deep discussion so that participants were able to exchange experience and ideas among themselves. At the end of the debate, recommendations were forwarded and the main ones were as follows: Debtors should be given ample time so that to get enough information All concerned sectors, particularly those organizations who are involved in food security, should plan and work together in the basin area Field visit for the NDF members to the basin areas should be scheduled in order to have good knowhow and information about the available resources. There must be socio economic studies of the basin in order to exploit the resources wisely and attain food security Solve conflict of interest. Finally, the public debate was completed successfully and in conclusion the coordinator appreciated the participants for their active involvement in the debate.

Eritrean NDF: Public Debate