Climate change adaptation

May 2011 – The Southern African Development Community (SADC) received a € 1.7 million grant to undertake a study to improve knowledge on navigable waterways of the Shire-Zambezi for their reopening. This joint action between Malawi and Mozambique will improve information exchange and promote joint project planning and investment. The reopening of the waterways could increase the volume of transport of goods, trade and the exchange of services.

Photo courtesy of Nasa

August 2011- The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) received a € 411,000 grant for a study to establish a regional water observatory to contribute the improvement of water sector performance.  The observatory would help strengthen political will on common water management policy amongst ECOWAS member countries, and promote the convergence of national policy outlook and strategy framework to facilitate joint action on transboundary water resources management.

Photo courtesy of Nasa

January 2012 – The Government of Sudan received a € 3.3 million grant to finance the preparation of bankable investment plans to leverage the US $100 million in financing required to meet the medium and longer term water and sanitation needs of the inhabitants in 15 to 20 small rural towns in Darfur, as well as neighbouring pastoralists and nomadic peoples.

May 2012 - The Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office (ENTRO, the technical arm of the Nile Basin Initiative, received a € 2 million grant for a development study to support investment efforts to finance the Baro-Akobo-Sobat development programme. The region holds tremendous potential for the cooperative development of water resources, if enhanced, promises significant socio-economic impacts that can reduce poverty.

July 2012 - The Kenya Rainwater Association (KRA) received € 690,000 grant to mainstream rainwater harvesting and management (RHM) in response to rural development challenges posed by climate change in drought prone regions of Kenya.

August 2012 – The Government of Zambia received a € 950,000 grant to develop, test, and adopt updated guidelines to program, design, finance, build and monitor multi-purpose small dams. Resources mobilisation activities are also an important part of the project to ensure that the dams be scaled-up. The project is expected help rural communities build resilience to climate variability through improved water storage capacity. The water is expected to increase water security for fisheries, irrigation, domestic use, and cattle.

Photo courtesy of Nasa

July 2009 – The Government of the Central African Republic received a € 2 million grant to establish an institutional and regulatory framework to strengthen water and sanitation sector governance and institutional capacity to attract additional funding and make more sustainable investments. The project is expected to enhance national capacities in the sector in terms of water governance, monitoring, management and planning of water resources.

January 2013 –The Government of the Republic of Congo received a €1 million grant to finance feasibility studies of drinking water and sanitation systems in five semi-urban centers, and to finance the development of tools to be used to strengthen the operational capacity of the Water Sector Development Fund (FDSE) for the fund to be a sustainable financing tool for projects in the water supply and sanitation sector.

Photo courtesy of Nasa

August 2009 - The Municipality of Chitungwiza received a €2 million grant to finance the rehabilitation of the municipal water supply and sanitation systems and build institutional and community capacity for improved water and sanitation services to reduce the incidence of cholera. This will help stabilise the deterioration in the provision of water and sanitation services in the Municipality of Chitungwiza, and enhance institutional capacity for efficient and sustainable operation and management of the water supply and sanitation services for the future onward.

November 2009 – Development Aid from People to People (DAPP), a local NGO, received a €700,000  grant to strengthen traditional farmers' ability to efficiently manage on-farm water resources for enhanced productivity and income generation, thus facilitating the transition from subsistence farming to a more efficient and commercially oriented mode of production. In doing so, the project also addresses the issue of vulnerability of smallholder families to climate variability, both reducing their dependency on rain-fed farming and increasing their resilience to climate change.