Development cooperation agencies often underestimate how much the management of territorial resources depends on the socio-political environment and contributes to shaping and modifying it. This aspect, if neglected, leads to development cooperation projects with suboptimal results. Based on this assumption, the research project aims to investigate the management of water resources in Ethiopia - with specific reference to the Lower Omo Valley - from a geographical perspective in order to stimulate Italian cooperation projects in the area. The aim is to highlight that the appropriation, administration, and distribution of water are affected by power relationships that precede and are independent of mere management issues. Furthermore, these relationships can only be effectively described from a spatial perspective, taking into account the specific territorial characteristics where the water/power relationship is materially consumed.
The research project will be divided into three phases:
(1) Discussion and critique of the scientific literature on Ethiopian hydro-geopolitics, with specific attention to the reductionist, institutional, and critical debate on the relationship between water and power in the Lower Omo Valley;