**6. Conclusion**

The decrease of water resources linked to the dry spells of the 1960s and 1970s and climate change has impacted on socio-economic activities in the Kayanga/Geba basin, shared between Guinea, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. This situation has incited the multiplication of hydro-agricultural dam projects in the Senegalese part of the basin, with the building of the Confluent, Niandouba and Velingara-Pakane dams, to increase agricultural production and fight against poverty. These dams have increased the pressure on water resources and raised the level of water withdrawals, hence the numerous complaints from the Guinea-Bissau authorities to their Senegalese counterparts and to the OMVG. These complaints relate to the low quantities of water that arrive downstream, especially in the dry season, due to the dams, a conflict that has

become latent between the two countries. Nevertheless, many studies have shown that historically few tensions and disputes over water have led to open armed conflict [65–68]. The relations between countries bordering an international river may be tense, the disputes may arise, but in general, these countries almost always find a formula for cooperation rather than open confrontation [66, 68].

The OMVG as a basin organisation is trying to create a favourable environment to develop a common will to exploit and share the basin's potential together, with the implementation of common development projects such as the Integrated Water Resources Management project of the Kayanga/Geba river basin. But its mission in this basin is not easy because the dams do not have the status of common structures and it does not yet have a say in their management. Like the other basin organisations such as OMVS,3 ABN4 and CBLT,5 it will have to demonstrate a great capacity for anticipation and adaptation in the face of the many changes that are on the horizon [69], in particular, the planned dam project at the confluence of the Niokolo-Koba and Koulountou rivers to strengthen the existing dams. The relevant suggestions made by [70] can help to prevent the risk of conflict and to manage it appropriately when it occurs.
