Project title
Upper Okavango Food Security Project (Project XB‐1)
Project sponsors
The Ministry of Agriculture in Angola and the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and
Forestry in Namibia.
Participating countries
Angola and Namibia.
Objectives
The principal purpose of this project is to identify and disseminate technical
knowledge of improved approaches to water management with regards to
agricultural production, including livestock and aquaculture, and market access for
smallholder farmers within the project area. The second purpose of this project will
focus on ensuring the sustainable management of natural resources within the
project area, with particular attention to efficient water resource utilisation. The
third component of this project will focus on creating and strengthening local
capacity and social capital for sustainable economic development and increasing
food security. The fourth component of this project will focus on infrastructure
development and rehabilitation within the project area.
Project description
The benefit from the programme implementation would be a significant long‐term
reduction in regional food security, both chronic and acute. This reduction would be
achieved through an increased number of producers having access to technologies
and practices that enable them to increase the production. Adopted production
technology would draw primarily on an Integrated Water Resources Management
(IWRM) approach that improved sustainable access to water during deficit periods
from stored or permanent resources. The agricultural support services and water
resources management will benefit from both improved knowledge of appropriate
resource utilisation methodology and from an increased ability to respond to
changing conditions facing institutions and producers, as a result of the impact of
HIV/AIDS, global trade expansion and other factors. The principal groups of
beneficiaries’ targeted within the programme will be:
Expected results
Resource‐poor rain‐fed farmers and livestock herders who are vulnerable to
food insecurity; and
Smallholder farmers in irrigation schemes with poor efficiency, especially
emergent farmers, market agents and traders, female‐headed families,
HIV/AIDS affected and other most vulnerable households.
The project will cover only the most urgent agriculture‐related needs, but can also
identify and prepare proposals for further infrastructure investment, particularly for
roads and bridges. The last component of the project entails regional coordination
and management. The project fits in well within the RSAP III Pillars, as it aims to
improve water management within the project area with overall goals of improving
livelihoods and poverty eradication.
Ongoing related activities in the The SADC Secretariat (FANR – Food Security Unit) will assist in the implementation
region
and monitoring of this project for possible replication in other SADC Member States.
Description of national plan to the A project implementation unit will be established in each country with the Ministry
project
of Agriculture in each country leading such implementation. A Coordination
Committee will be hosted by OKACOM with representatives from the AfDB, FAO,
Angola, Namibia and Botswana.
Status
The project can be considered to be in Phase 2 of the ICA Project Development
Phases.
Next steps
The next project development stage is a pre‐feasibility study to be completed in
2012. Thereafter, feasibility studies will be carried out from 2013 to 2014.
Implementation and construction of the associated project components is expected
to then start in 2015 and will be completed in 2019. US$1.5 million is required to
undertake the feasibility studies.
Business model
Initially, this is more of a capacity enhancement project, with minimal water sector
developmental infrastructure, which would be developed later.
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