Limpopo River Basin Focal Project Limpopo River Basin Focal Project Improving Livelihoods by Improving Water Productivity, Access and Use Doug Merrey 2 September 2008 FANRPAN Regional Dialogue, Lilongwe

Limpopo River Basin Focal Project Outline  Limpopo Basin  Project Goals and Structure  The Team Partners  Approach  Preliminary Findings—Opportunities for Interventions

Limpopo River Basin Focal Project

Limpopo Basin Overview  Area: 412,938 km2 Population: 14 million  Percentage urban: 43 Percentage rural: 57  Percentage of population below poverty line: 56%  Mean annual rainfall: 200-1,200 mm (average 530 mm)  Climate: Ranges from tropical dry savanna and hot dry steppe to warm and cool temperate  Contribution of agriculture to GDP in the basin: 6.5%  Net irrigated area: 244,000 ha Land use: Crops, 234,000 ha; pasture, 1.78 million ha; forestry, 455,000 ha  Multiple water uses: mining, urban, industry, tourism  Institutional arrangement for managing water: Limpopo River Basin Commission [to be ratified]  Environmental conservation areas: 2 Ramsar sites, important game parks, coastal areas

Limpopo River Basin Focal Project The Team-1  FANRPAN and ARC-SA joint venture  IWMI and GWP-SA* regional partners  GWP and FANRPAN co-lead stakeholder consultations * Global Water Partnership-Southern Africa

Limpopo River Basin Focal Project The Team-2  National universities: Botswana, Eduardo Mondlane (UEM, Mozambique), Pretoria, Zimbabwe and Malawi  Mozambique Institute of Agricultural Research (IIAM) Team is large and diverse, but highly experienced and professional complemented by students

Limpopo River Basin Focal Project Project Goals To identify agricultural water interventions whose implementation will reduce poverty and enhance food, health, and environmental security in the Limpopo Basin and beyond To identify gaps in knowledge about agricultural water management options in the basin requiring further research

Limpopo River Basin Focal Project Work Packages (WP) & Lead Institutions 1. WP 1 Water and Poverty- U. Malawi 2. WP 2 Water Availability and Access- ARC 3. WP 3 Water Productivity- IWMI 4. WP 4 Institutional Analysis- FANRPAN Sec. 5. WP 5 Interventions Packages- FANRPAN Sec. 6. WP 6 Knowledge Management- ARC

Limpopo River Basin Focal Project Research Approach  Make use of existing data bases  Build on outputs from CPWF and other on- going research projects  Use students strategically to fill gaps, provide analytical support

Limpopo River Basin Focal Project Strategic interventions for the basin 1. Identify possible intervention packages 2. Test through consultations with key stakeholders (managed jointly by GWP and FANRPAN) 3. Assess through case studies Stakeholder Consultation seen as central to success

Limpopo River Basin Focal Project A Methodological Innovation: The Intervention Matrix Intervention Package Associated Institutions InfrastructureTechnologyPolicies & Institutions New Knowledge intervention (contributor) Name of institution, contact info, links to related web sites or documents Check any of the boxes below that apply Check boxes below that apply Check boxes below that apply Check boxes below that apply availabilityproductivityaccessavailprodaccavailprodaccavailprodacc Treadle Pump Irrigation D Merrey IDE Kick Start rg XX Small Reservoirs CP 46 rs.org XX Catchment Management Forums DWAF a XX

Limpopo River Basin Focal Project Example: Application of the Intervention Matrix But RWH works only under certain conditions

Limpopo River Basin Focal Project The “Black Hole” of Limpopo Basin

Limpopo River Basin Focal Project Limpopo “Black Hole”  From Kevin Scott, leader of water availability work package  Serious Implications:  Water going in does not come out—no outflow (Mozambique take notice!)  Limited options for productive use of water— need irrigation but not much water available  Rainwater harvesting probably not appropriate in the Black Hole!  Would a massive upstream dam enable regulated year-round flows downstream?  One option under investigation

Limpopo River Basin Focal Project Huge Irrigation Potential in Mozambique  Massingir Dam—Lower Limpopo irrigation potential is +/- 90,000 ha  Chókwe Irrigation Scheme largest in Mozambique: rice, sugar cane, maize, vegetables, etc.  Complex history, victim of colonial exploitation and impacts of civil war  Presently low productivity, under-use, poverty Chókwe Main Canal

Limpopo River Basin Focal Project Team Visit to Chókwe  Recent team visit and stakeholder consultation demonstrated that getting policies, input and output markets, support systems, and institutional framework right would make very high agricultural productivity and poverty reduction possible  Government now encouraging capital-intensive multi-national investments  What is potential for supporting a prosperous smallholder-based agriculture?