More funds needed for the Zambezi River Basin
The Zambezi River Basin is a massive area of critical importance.
By Leon Louw owner of WhyAfrica and editor of the WhyAfrica magazine
It is encouraging to see the African Development Bank allocating more than USD10-million towards improving the collaborative management of water, energy, food and environmental resources within the Zambezi River Basin.
The project “Strengthening Zambezi River Basin Management towards Climate Resilience and Ecosystem Health,” is a start and will draw attention to the challenges facing people and natural systems within the Zambezi Basin.
However, these funds fall short of ensuring ongoing research and sustainable and impactful management spanning a massive land area including eight southern African countries.
More funds needed for the Zambezi River Basin
During the 2023 WhyAfrica Road Trip we followed the Zambezi River for several hundreds of kilometres to find out just how important this enormous river system, its drainage basin and surrounding ecosystems are to the people and natural processes within this area.
The Zambezi Basin covers a massive land area of more than 1,390,000km2. The drainage area encompasses large parts of Namibia, Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique, crossing regions of high population densities, conservation areas, regions of low population densities, important mining areas, agricultural regions, and buffer zones.
At times its river systems traverse areas where the human population is scant as in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, for example. This area protects large parts of the Caprivi Strip in Namibia, south-east Angola, south-west Zambia, the northern parts of Botswana and western Zambia. The basin also drains the Cameia National Park in Angola which covers a surface area of about 14,450km2 where the human population is relatively low.
The northern parts of Cameia are traversed by the historic Benguela rail line which is being upgraded to form part of Angola’s Lobito Corridor that will eventually link the west coast of Angola at the Port of Lobito with Dar Es Salaam on the east coast of Tanzania.
Regulator of environments and climate (More funds needed for the Zambezi River Basin)
WhyAfrica followed this rail line for more than 300km where it forms the northern boundary of the great wetlands of the Cameia National Park, another outflow of the Zambezi’s drainage basin.
This massive river basin and drainage area is an extremely important supplier of fresh water, electricity, and fish, not only to the local communities living within the basin, but to the entire southern African region.
The Zambezi Basin is home to immense plains and wetlands and regulates the climate and rich ecosystems of the savannas and humid forests that surround it.
In addition, two major sub-basins in the Zambezi basin are interconnected with other major African systems namely the Lake Malawi/Nyassa/Shire River sub-basin (WhyAfrica also visited Lake Malawi) and the perennial river bifurcation in the Selinda Spillway (or Magwegana River) in the Cuando River sub-basin, which connects the Zambezi Basin to the Kalahari Basin.
Balancing development and conservation?
Apart from its importance to the region’s communities and ecosystems the area also boasts spectacular geology, extremely fertile soils, and attractions with huge tourism potential. Extensions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC’s) and Zambian Copperbelts (copper and cobalt are now recognised as “critical” minerals) reach far into the heart of the Zambezi Basin, while rare and critical metals and minerals of global significance have been discovered in the highlands, lowlands, wetlands, and savannas of the basin and its sub-basins.
Thus, the Zambezi Basin is critical not only to the region, but to the whole world. There is no doubt that development will benefit some of the poorest communities in Africa. It will provide employment and result in the development of critical infrastructure with immense knock-on effects. The question is how will we balance development and conservation and how will all this affect sensitive ecosystems and local communities living in an area where extreme weather events have already made an impact?
According to the African Development Bank the Zambezi River Basin project is expected to benefit millions through advancements in agriculture, fisheries, and dam operations. It focuses on promoting transboundary cooperation, integrated planning, and adaptive management practices to boost the basin’s resilience and ecosystem health.
The year WhyAfrica will again follow the Zambezi from the Cahora Bassa Dam towards its mouth at the town of Quelimane in the Indian Ocean.
The lower Zambezi’s 650km from Cahora Bassa to the Indian Ocean is navigable, although the river is shallow in many places during the dry season.
About 160 kilometres from the sea, the Zambezi receives the drainage of Lake Malawi (which we will also visit this year) through the Shire River.
Upon approaching the Indian Ocean, the river splits up into a massive delta. Each of the primary distributaries, Kongone, Luabo, and Timbwe, is obstructed by a sand bar. A more northerly branch, called the Chinde mouth, has a minimum depth at low water of two metres at the entrance and four metres further in, and is the branch used for navigation.
Continue following WhyAfrica to discover the secrets of one of Africa’s most intriguing river systems.
More funds needed for the Zambezi River Basin
