Multipurpose River Projects in Africa

Syllabus tag: Kenya CBC | Grade 9 Social Studies | Strand 4.0 Natural and Historic Built Environments | Sub-Strand 4.3 Multipurpose River Projects in Africa (8 Lessons)

Lesson objectives

By the end of this sub-strand, you should be able to:

• Identify selected multipurpose river projects in Africa.
• Explain the objectives and benefits of multipurpose river projects.
• Discuss the problems associated with such projects.
• Appreciate the usefulness of multipurpose river projects in society.

Summary

A multipurpose river project develops a river to serve several purposes at once, typically hydroelectric power, irrigation, water supply, flood control, fishing and tourism. Building one dam to do many jobs is cheaper than building separate works for each. Africa's major examples include the Aswan High Dam on the Nile, the Volta River Project in Ghana, Kariba on the Zambezi, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, and in Kenya the Seven Forks scheme on the Tana. The benefits are substantial and so are the costs, and an honest assessment requires holding both.