The delicate topic of sharing the Nile�s water is coming under discussion this week in Kenya, at a meeting to find ways of alleviating poverty in countries that lie within the Nile basin.

The five-day meeting, which began on Monday in Nairobi, has been organised by the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) �- a partnership between countries that the river runs through. The NBI was launched in 1999 with the aim of promoting cooperation between Nile states so that the river could be used sustainably.

The Nile and its tributaries cross 10 states: Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. According to the NBI, four of these countries are amongst the world�s 10 poorest states, a problem that could be addressed by introducing agricultural projects.

�We are going to explore ways in which all riparian (river-side) states will share water, especially for agricultural use,� said George Krhoda, Permanent Secretary in Kenya�s Ministry of Water Resource Management and Development.

According to NBI Executive Director Meraji Msuya, the projects will be financed by a donor-supported trust fund that was launched Tuesday. �The NBI trust fund already has 80% of the 136 million dollars needed. This is an achievement, and we are moving ahead to closing doors of poverty in the region,� he said.

The Nairobi conference follows a similar meeting held last week in Uganda, where delegates tried once again to work out how the Nile�s water can be fairly distributed between states that border the river. It comes at a time of mounting tension around this issue, with several countries states calling for a nullification of the 1929 Nile Basin Treaty.

This agreement, revised in 1959, was signed between Britain (on Sudan�s behalf) and Egypt. It prohibits the other eight Nile basin states from undertaking projects that might reduce the volume of water reaching these two countries, without getting permission from Egypt and Sudan.

This arrangement has proved particularly unfair for Ethiopia, which accounts for over three quarters of the water flowing into the Nile � but consumes less than one percent of these resources. The country is currently suffering from a severe drought, and could benefit greatly from increased irrigation using Nile water.

Suggestions of increased water use by Ethiopia have sparked consternation in Egypt, which is heavily dependent on the Nile for its own agriculture sector.

Relations between Egypt and Kenya also hit a low during a meeting of the Nile Basin Council of Ministers held in Ethiopia last December. Kenya�s Minister of Water Resources, Martha Karua, stormed out of the talks after disagreements about sharing of the Nile�s resources, an action that was termed a �declaration of war� by her Egyptian counterpart, Mahmoud Abu-Zeid.

Former United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali once remarked that the next major war in Africa would result from the controversy over usage of the Nile waters.

Certain human rights groups in Kenya have lined up behind the government concerning its stance on the Nile.

�Kenya should go ahead and use the waters for the well being of its citizens�we should not be cowed down. Besides war on one nation means war on all,� said Samson Ojiayo, Coordinator of Bunge la Wananchi (Parliament of the People).

Tanzania, which is also experiencing drought, has already gone ahead with tapping water from Lake Victoria, which feeds into the Nile. Early last month, it embarked on a $27,6 million project to supply the water to dry regions.

�We cannot sit and wait while we can save our people from famine. We hold that the two treaties (the original 1929 agreement and the 1959 revision) are not binding because they did not involve us,� said a source close to the Tanzanian government who declined to be named.

�What we know is that we have equal rights to use the waters, and there are no restrictions.�

Nonetheless, officials at the NBI meeting in Nairobi are playing down reports of hostility between Nile basin countries.

�The 1929 treaty is not a controversy at all. We are disturbed by the misreporting (in the) media. Since the formation of NBI in 1999, there has been tremendous achievement. People are now talking openly about the Nile even with Egypt, not like it was 10 to 15 years ago when no one could talk about it,� Msuya remarked.

There were similar words from an Egyptian delegate, Abdel Fattah Mettawie.

�Which war are you talking about? There has never been talk of war,� he said. �This is handpicked and unresearched information meant to mislead people.�

Water affairs ministers from NBI countries are expected to make an appearance at the meeting on March 18, when they will conduct further negotiations on sharing out the waters of the 6 700km Nile -- the world�s longest waterway.