The GLOWA Volta Project: A framework for water resources decision-making and scientific capacity building in a transnational West African Basin

The Volta River Basin occupies over 400,000 km2 within the sub-humid to semi-arid West African savanna zone. The basin is shared by six riparian nations, among which Ghana (40% of basin area) and Burkina Faso (43%) are the most important in terms of population, water use and economic activity. Basin precipitation averages around 1,000 mm per year, with a steep south to north gradient, and less than 10% becomes usable as runoff due to high evaporation rates. Historically, rainfall is erratic and unreliable, a situation likely to be exacerbated as a consequence of global climate change. Basin inhabitants are largely rural and poor, with per capita incomes falling well below Sub-Saharan African standards, and only 37% (Burkina Faso) to 62% (Ghana) have access to improved sources of drinking water. Basin population is expanding by over 2.5% annually, effectively doubling every 28 years. Irrigation, the dominant consumptive use of water in the northern and central basin, competes directly with hydro-power generation in the south for available water resources, and the demand for water to serve these and other uses is projected to increase dramatically over the next two decades. The GLOWA Volta Project (GVP), initiated in 2000 and funded by the German Government, is designed to provide a comprehensive, integrated analysis of the physical and socioeconomic determinants of the hydrologic cycle within the Volta Basin, with a specific focus on the impacts of global environmental change. GLOWA Volta is an interdisciplinary project involving climatologists, hydrologists, geographers and other physical scientists working in coordination with agricultural economists, sociologists and anthropologists. The overall