The eight countries sharing the Zambezi River Basin have agreed to coordinate efforts to strengthen the resilience of communities, ecosystems and economies facing growing climate risks.
The agreement comes under a $130 million regional programme designed to improve food security and livelihoods while strengthening the resilience of the basin’s ecosystems.
The programme will focus on four areas: natural resources management, community climate resilience, institutional capacity and knowledge, and regional coordination.
For communities, the investments are expected to support landscape restoration, better water management, climate-smart agriculture, stronger agricultural value chains and new economic opportunities, particularly for women and young people.
The Zambezi runs through Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Its basin is one of southern Africa’s major economic and ecological systems, supporting agriculture, fisheries and tourism while providing water for millions of people.
It is also central to the region’s energy supply, powering major hydropower facilities including the Kariba and Cahora Bassa dams.
But the river basin is increasingly exposed to climate extremes. Drought can reduce water available for hydropower and agriculture, while flooding can destroy farmland and infrastructure. Rising temperatures and growing pressure on water and other natural resources are increasing the risks.
The agreement was reached at a regional workshop in Harare, Zimbabwe, for the African Development Bank-supported Programme for Building Resilience of Food, Livelihoods and Ecosystems in the Zambezi River Basin.
The meeting brought together representatives of the Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM), African Development Bank, UN Convention to Combat Desertification’s Global Mechanism, Climate Investment Funds and the Zimbabwean government.
Representatives of all eight basin countries, river basin organisations, dam operators, civil society groups and private-sector organisations also participated.
The workshop was held ahead of an appraisal mission that will assess the design of the regional programme. Participants reviewed its technical design, financing, implementation arrangements, geographic priorities and environmental and social safeguards.
They also examined how national investments could deliver benefits across the wider basin while incorporating gender considerations and aligning with regional and national development priorities, including the Strategic Plan for the Zambezi Watercourse 2018–2040 and the Southern Africa Great Green Wall Initiative.
Countries were urged to commit at least 10% of their national budgets to priority areas under the programme, maintain community participation, track gender-related outcomes and strengthen land governance.
The participants also called for closer coordination of results and investments across the basin so that projects funded at the national level contribute to shared regional outcomes.
Laouali Garba, AfDB’s Manager for Agricultural Research, Production and Sustainability, said the focus should now shift from planning to implementation.
“Now the time has come to turn the resources mobilized into achievements on the ground for community resilience, food security, job creation for women and youth, and climate change mitigation throughout the Zambezi basin,” he said.
ZAMCOM Executive Secretary Felix Ngamlagosi said national investments must address individual countries’ priorities while contributing to common basin-wide goals.
Cathrine Mutambirwa, programme coordinator for Land Degradation Neutrality and Land Restoration at the UNCCD Global Mechanism, called for closer integration of land and water management.
“Drought is directly linked to water resources management,” she said.
Eyerusalem Fasika, AfDB’s Country Manager for Zimbabwe, said restoring degraded landscapes and strengthening climate-resilient agriculture would be central to the programme’s success.
“We have a shared responsibility to prepare a high-quality, bankable investment program,” she said.
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