In about 20 years, Southern Africa will need 60% more food to feed the region. This will increase demand for water and energy. For example, water withdrawals for irrigation are estimated to increase by 10% by 2050.
For more than 40 million people, the Zambezi River Basin is a crucial source for drinking water, fisheries, irrigation, ecosystem maintenance, biodiversity, and various other uses. With eight countries sharing the Zambezi Basin watershed, (Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe), and to meet the needs of growing populations, the basin needs sustainable water resource management.
Additionally, large-scale implementation of some agricultural innovations could result in the depletion of water resources and lead to unsustainable practices. Following Water and Energy for Food (WE4F)’s Mid-Term Evaluation, which highlighted this particular concern, the program pursued the creation of water accounting frameworks. The Zambezi River Basin was selected as the first location due the numerous Southern and Central Africa Hub innovators based in the region. The water accounting dashboard developed for WE4F was designed by the International Water Management Institute as a tool that businesses and
their funders can use to determine water availability during innovation scale up.
What is water accounting?
Per the FAO, water accounting is the systematic study of the current status and trends in water supply, demand, accessibility and use. Water accounting provides the foundation of sound water management decisions.
The tool designed for WE4F uses the Water Accounting Plus methodology (WA+) that is applied to river basins, and utilizes open access (remote sensing) datasets. The study was turned into an interactive dashboard which public and private sector organizations can access to assess the viability of technologies, in relation to current and future water availability in select areas. It also takes into consideration an area’s rainfall patterns and basin-related water discharges, making it easier to advise smallholder farmers on which crops to grow and best practices for effective water management .
Why use a water accounting framework?
Information generated from the dashboard not only helps public and private sector organizations make environmentally sustainable decisions, it also enables them to identify if enough water is available for further use. For organizations like funders, investors, or donor organizations, this tool can provide risk mitigation for potential investments, preventing the scaling of innovations that encourage water overuse. Meanwhile for businesses, understanding water availability and future trends, can help them provide better training and advisory services to farmers.
The Zambezi Basin is rich in resources that can provide opportunities for sustainable, cooperative investment in water, energy and food security. But to meet future food demands without compromising water availability, farmers, businesses, governments, and other actors need to take concrete actions now. Using a water accounting dashboard is a first step in identifying water resource management actions.
