From its origin here in the Ethiopian Highlands, the Blue Nile flows hundreds of miles north into Sudan and then Egypt before eventually flowing into the Mediterranean.
Looking out across the vastness of Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile, it is difficult to see why Ethiopia is known as a land plagued by horrific droughts.
Yet despite this apparent abundance of water about 2.5 million farmers, in this region of Ethiopia alone, depend on food aid to survive.
In Egypt, there's a massive irrigation system that spawns thousands of acres of fruit and vegetables at the Al-Hoda farm, one of Africa's largest organic farms. Most of the crops are bound for supermarkets in Britain and other European countries.
What is wrong with this picture?
"While Egypt is taking the Nile water to transform the Sahara Desert into something green, we in Ethiopia - who are the source of 85% of that water - are denied the possibility of using it to feed ourselves. And we are being forced to beg for food every year,"
-Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi
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