Barbara van Koppen, Guillaume Lacombe and Emmanuel Mwendera
In spite of the strong policy commitments of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to water development and to agricultural development for poverty alleviation, food security and broad based agricultural and economic growth, agricultural water management and irrigation was the orphan in both the agricultural and water sectors. With support from the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Feed the Future Program implemented through the Southern Africa Regional Mission, the present study aimed to fill this gap. The research consisted of local case studies and national policy and investment analysis, in particular in Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe (see www.iwmi.org for the reports of these country studies). Their findings informed the present regional SADC-wide synthesis study, for which further analysis was conducted as well.
The questions focused on:
- The hydrology of the region under climate change, the nature of water scarcity, and the status of water withdrawals for agriculture; and
- Lessons from past investments in agwater management by, respectively, government and partners, smallholders, and agri-business that point at evidence-based solutions to unleash the untapped potentials of agwater management.
Read the reports for the main findings on hydrology and climate change; governments, smallholders; agribusiness; and potential synergies.