Eight countries that share the Zambezi River Basin have agreed on priority interventions to strengthen food security, livelihoods and ecosystems, as preparations advance for a proposed US$130 million regional climate resilience programme.
The agreement was reached during a regional workshop held in Harare, Zimbabwe, in the first week of September, bringing together representatives from the Zambezi Watercourse Commission, the African Development Bank, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification Global Mechanism and the Government of Zimbabwe. The meeting served as a precursor to the appraisal mission for the Programme for Building Resilience of Food, Livelihoods and Ecosystems in the Zambezi River Basin, being developed as a major regional investment response to mounting climate, environmental and economic pressures.
The programme spans Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, whose economies and communities depend heavily on the Zambezi and its resources. The river is one of southern Africa’s most important economic lifelines, supporting agriculture, fisheries, tourism, hydropower and domestic water supplies and feeding major infrastructure including the Kariba and Cahora Bassa dams, while underpinning tourism around attractions such as Victoria Falls.
That economic system is increasingly under pressure from climate variability. Droughts can reduce water availability and hydropower generation, floods can destroy agricultural land, infrastructure and livelihoods, and land degradation together with declining ecosystem services threaten the basin’s long term productive capacity. The proposed programme is designed to address these challenges through coordinated regional investment rather than isolated national interventions, and participants at the Harare workshop reviewed its technical design, proposed financing allocations, implementation arrangements, geographical priorities and environmental and social safeguards.
Senior Water Officer in Zambia’s Ministry of Water Development and Sanitation, Engineer Emma Ndhlovu, called for stronger ownership as the programme moves toward implementation. “The time has come to move from programme preparation to programme ownership and action,” said, urging stakeholders to translate the shared regional vision into tangible and lasting results for communities across the basin. For the African Development Bank, the investment must ultimately translate into improved livelihoods and greater economic resilience. Division Manager for Agricultural Research, Production and Sustainability at the Bank, Laouali Garba,said mobilised resources should be converted into community resilience, food security, employment opportunities for women and youth and climate change mitigation. He said, “We planted together, and we need to harvest together for the benefit of the most vulnerable communities of the Zambezi basin.”
Zambezi Watercourse Commission Executive Secretary Felix Ngamlagosi stressed that national investments must remain connected to common regional outcomes. “While the individual investments must respond to the priorities of each participating country, they must all contribute to common basin-wide results,” noted Ngamlagosi. He further highlighted the importance of coordinated action in responding to climate shocks, land degradation and declining ecosystem services.
In conclusion, SADC’s Acting Senior Programme Manager for Water, Dumsani Mndzebele, welcomed efforts to coordinate investment streams supported by the Climate Investment Fund, the African Development Bank, the African Development Fund and the Global Environment Facility.
