SANF 25 no 9 by Neto Nengomasha
The awarding of US$60.35 million to the Zambezi Watercourse by the Climate Investment Funds has far-reaching benefits towards accelerating regional efforts to building community resilience and restoration of ecosystems.
Under this initiative, the Zambezi region, as represented by the Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM), has become one of the first regions in the world to receive such funding for nature-based solutions.
This followed the endorsement of its Nature, People and Climate (NPC) Investment Plan for the Zambezi Region by the Climate Investment Funds (CIF)’s Global Climate Action Programme (GCAP) Sub-Committee which met in the United States on 28 February 2025.
It is estimated that the Zambezi region will generate at least US$10 for every dollar invested by the CIF in co-financing from the private sector and voluntary carbon markets, putting its fund-raising potential at over US$600 million.
This amount will significantly cover the funding required for the implementation of all the programmes and projects targeted under the NPC Investment Plan for the Zambezi Region, which calls for a substantial investment of about US$1.51 billion over the next 10 years.
The CIF funding will enable impactful projects across five of the eight ZAMCOM member states – Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania and Zambia. These initiatives will focus on addressing critical challenges in identified hotspots along the watercourse.
The funding aims to support sustainable forest restoration, protect high carbon stock areas, promote ecosystem restoration and empower forest-adjacent communities by advancing alternative livelihoods.
Expectations are that projects in non-CFI eligible states – Angola, Botswana and Zimbabwe – will be financed by multilateral development banks such as the African Development Bank (AfDB) and World Bank.
The investment plan will deploy nature-based solutions recognizing the inter-dependences among land use, climate-change mitigation and adaptation, and improvement of livelihoods of rural communities.
It is anchored within ZAMCOM’s long term blueprint, the Strategic Plan for the Zambezi Watercourse (2018-2040), and will be implemented by the AfDB and the World Bank.
The investment plan is one of the key initiatives in the watercourse, alongside the Programme for Integrated Development and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Zambezi (PIDACC Zambezi) that ZAMCOM is working on to actualise the aspirations of the ZAMCOM Agreement and the Strategic Plan for the Zambezi Watercourse.
The ZAMCOM Agreement established the Commission in 2014 whose objective is to promote the equitable and reasonable utilisation of the water resources of the Zambezi Watercourse.
The CIF funding adds to a US$10.57 million ZAMCOM grant announced recently by Global Environment Facility (GEF).
The announcement was made by the GEF Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson Carlos Manuel Rodriguez during the launch of the One Water Summit held alongside the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in December 2024.
ZAMCOM Executive Secretary Felix Ngamlagosi expressed enthusiasm for the ongoing support that the CIF continues to extend to the Zambezi region.
“This crucial step marks a significant milestone in our collective efforts to build a sustainable and resilient future for the Zambezi River Basin. We are setting the foundation for the implementation of nature-based solutions that will help mitigate the impacts of climate change and human activities on the natural resources,” he said.
He added: “We are confident that by integrating environmental, social and economic considerations, the interventions will not only safeguard the region’s ecosystems but also improve the livelihoods of the communities that depend on them.”
ZAMCOM Programme Manager for Zambezi Strategic Planning, Mwasiti Ally Rashid emphasised the collaborative implementation of nature-based solutions and interventions in transboundary hotspots as pivotal for fostering cross-border cooperation among Zambezi riparian states and promoting peace while strengthening landscape and livelihood resilience in the watercourse.
Rashid noted the investment plan’s potential to bolster the regional economy through enhanced ecosystem benefits and improved climate, nature and human well-being outcomes.
“It is envisaged that making more land and water resources available to ecosystems and communities will directly benefit the regional economy through improved benefits for nature, people, and climate,” Rashid told Southern African News Features.
The Zambezi River Basin represents one of the largest freshwater catchments in the world and is one of the most diverse and valuable natural resources in Africa. Its waters are critical to sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction in the region.
Of the estimated 51 million people living within the watercourse, the majority are dependent on rain-fed agriculture.
The Zambezi River Basin has been identified in recent International Panel on Climate Change reports as the most vulnerable to climate change impacts among the 11 major river basins in Africa due to the compounding effects of rising temperatures and declining rainfall.
The Zambezi River Basin is already experiencing the compounded impacts of changing climatic conditions, exacerbated by rising sea levels and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events such as droughts and floods.
These challenges, driven by variations in temperature and rainfall, are putting immense pressure on the basin’s ecosystems and the livelihoods of communities reliant on its resources.
The impacts cut across all sectors including water resources, human health, food security, energy biodiversity, tourism and livelihoods.
Between January and April 2019, the Zambezi basin and other countries in southern Africa faced several weather-related phenomena such as Tropical Cyclones Desmond, Idai and Kenneth, which caused extensive flooding countries such as Malawi, Mozambique, United Republic of Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
Cyclone Idai, recorded as one of the worst tropical storms to ever affect Africa and the southern hemisphere, claimed hundreds of lives and left a trail of destruction, including severe damage to key infrastructure such as roads, bridges, schools and clinics.
Over 800,000 hectares of cropland as well as crops and seed stocks were destroyed by the cyclone, while about 3.3 million people were left in need of immediate humanitarian assistance such as food, shelter, clothing, potable water, sanitation and medical support.
It is such impacts that programmes and projects under the NPC Investment Plan for the Zambezi Region and other initiatives in the basin are aiming to address. sardc.net
