The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM) have launched a new initiative through an inception meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe, to advance the Strategic Basin Investment Programme (SBIP). The programme aims to unlock multi-million-dollar investments to strengthen climate resilience, water security, and sustainable livelihoods across the Zambezi River Basin.
The initiative focuses on a region that spans eight countries—Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe—and supports more than 50 million people. In this basin, over two-thirds of the population depend on rain-fed agriculture, while nearly 44 percent live below the poverty line, highlighting the urgent need for coordinated development and resilience-building efforts.
ZAMCOM officials noted that the long-term Strategic Plan for the Zambezi Watercourse (2028–2040) requires approximately US$28.3 billion to implement a pipeline of 282 identified projects. These projects are designed to address major infrastructure gaps in water storage, irrigation, hydropower, and water supply, while also strengthening food systems, livelihoods, and environmental sustainability across the basin.
Stakeholders emphasized that the SBIP will help convert identified projects into bankable investment opportunities by improving project preparation and attracting financing from development banks, climate funds, and private sector partners. The programme is expected to address the region’s infrastructure deficit while delivering tangible development benefits to communities across the basin.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) highlighted the broader regional importance of the initiative, noting that the Zambezi Basin represents a significant portion of the bloc’s integration agenda. The programme’s Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems Nexus approach is expected to support sustainable industrialisation, reduce poverty, and improve living standards across member states.
FAO underscored the basin’s vulnerability to climate variability, environmental degradation, and socio-economic pressures, while confirming a US$250,000 Technical Cooperation Programme to support SBIP development. Though modest, this funding is intended to act as a catalyst for larger-scale public, private, and climate finance mobilisation.
Anchored in long-term regional and FAO strategic frameworks, the SBIP seeks to create a structured pipeline of investment-ready projects under four key pillars: infrastructure development, livelihood support, environmental protection, and water resources management. The inception meeting marked an important step toward aligning governments and partners to move from planning to large-scale implementation, with the goal of improving resilience, food security, and livelihoods across the Zambezi River Basin.
