**1. Introduction**

Invasive aquatic weeds such as water hyacinth (WH, Eichhornia crassipes, 'Emboch' in Ethiopia) pose a severe threat to the environment, human health, socioeconomic development, and access to clean water around the world [1]. WH is found in the tropical and subtropical regions (see **Figure 1**). The first appearance of this

**Figure 1.** *Worldwide spread of WH; current and future potential spreads (adapted from [2]).*

species comes from the Amazon basin in Brazil and dates back to 1816. Subsequently, it was introduced as an ornamental plant to North America at the end of the 1800s [3]. It first appeared in Africa in the early 1900s and in Europe in the 1930s [4]. Known for its rapid spreading rate and noxiousness, WH has been reported to be able to double its coverage in an average of 13 days, allowing plants to cover a wide range of water surfaces in a short period of time [5, 6]. The term "noxiousness" indicates that WH has severely damaged the water bodies due to its biology and function in aquatic ecosystems.

The magnitude of the invasive WH weed problem has increased exponentially nowadays over the different water bodies in East Africa [1, 7]. Most water bodies in Ethiopia such as the Abay River Basin (Lake Tana and the Blue Nile), the Awash River Basin (Koka Lake and Koka Dam), the Baro-Akobo River Basin (Sorbate, Baro, Gillo, and Pibor rivers), the Rift Valley Basin (Lake Ellen, Lake Elltoke, and Lake Abaya), and many other parts of East Africa have been attacked by this noxious weed [8]. These water bodies are located in the Nile Basin, and contribute 90% of the Nile's water [6, 9, 10]. However, WH is creating severe adverse impacts on these water bodies' ecosystems and causing problems in navigation, which strongly affects the daily life of the local population and riparian communities [7]; interrupts hydropower generation systems, causes high water losses through evapotranspiration, and blocks turbines [11]. There are also other health issues, such as the incidence of breeding habitat for the malaria-causing Anopheles mosquito and other disease vectors [6, 12]. Fishermen, especially related to women fish sellers, have seen a considerable drop in their earnings [6, 13]. Another issue is irrigation system blockage, farmers *Invasive Water Hyacinth Challenges, Opportunities, Mitigation, and Policy Implications… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106779*

that rely on irrigation water must spend a significant amount of time cleaning their water canals [11]. The previous attempts to biologically remove WHs or use chemicals to destroy them have been either economically infeasible or environmentally destructive [8, 13]. The alternative is to seek technology that encourages the valorization of this invasive plant, so its eradication will result in some cashback and, as a result, environmental benefits, incentivizing WH control by generating sustainable income [14–16].

Various studies have been conducted in this regard, and various scholars have evaluated the potential use and economic benefits of converting WH weed biomass into value-added materials via physical control (both manual and mechanical harvesting) mechanism and valorization. These include natural fertilizer substitutes [17], industrial raw materials for composite and biopolymer production [18], handicrafts and furniture production [19], non-conventional protein sources for animal feed [20], phytoremediation capacity to deal with toxins and heavy metals [21, 22], and biorefinery feedstock for bioenergy (fuel briquette, biogas, and bioethanol) production and others [6, 15, 16, 23–31]. Nonetheless, in the local context, there are some challenges confronting the control of WH weed infestation through valorization techniques such as lack of community awareness, lack of a constituted body to enforce control programs and integrated valorization projects, the absence of a comprehensive and suitable policy framework, and high amounts of effluents released in the water bodies leading to eutrophication [6, 9, 16].

This chapter intended to review and highlight the potential applications of the invasive WH plant to recover valuable resources and assist the aquatic ecosystem's sustainability by rewarding long-term WH control through the cash generated from its valorization. It also gives an overview of WH biology, its control measures, and associated risks, as well as its socio-economic and environmental risks, prospects on various valorization options, and techno-economic benefits, to raise awareness among local and riparian communities in the Nile Basin. It also recommends policy implications and research for future legal frameworks. Therefore, through integrated controlvalorization within the Energy-Water-Food-Ecology (WEFE) nexus, this assessment will build resilience on more sustainable solutions to address the harmful ecological effects of WHs, clean water issues, increased energy mix, and long-term food security. It ultimately helps to achieve the universally initiated global sustainable development goals (SDGs). As a result, Ethiopia's policymakers, the water, agriculture, and energy sectors have the potential to be driven toward the valuable resource recovery technologies from integrated control-valorization prospects.
