mainstreaming of adaptation in national fiscal, regulatory and development policies to support
adaptive practices on a wider scale. The project will focus on the introduction of irrigation and water
management systems, training, capacity building of farmers on water management practices,
support to marketing, and provision of finance credit facilities. It will also cover support to the
introduction of drought resistant crops such as cassava, beans, sorghum, millet, potatoes, vegetables
and fruit trees. An estimated total number of 7 629 families, covering all categories of farmers and
the community within AER I, will benefit from these investments. The project also entails the
construction of five dams at five selected areas in AER I, eight fish ponds per site and�� irrigation
schemes at these five separate locations.
It is estimated that the total capacity of the five dams will be 250 x 106 m3, which will irrigated a total
area of 3 000 hectares and supply an estimated population of 45 000 people with a safe domestic
water supply and sanitation service.
The project proponent is the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives in Zambia. As there is no
available documentation, feasibility studies should be carried out and be completed in 2013. Detailed
designs, sourcing of funds and tendering for project implementation will be done in 2014.
Implementation and construction of the associated project components is expected to start in 2015
and will be completed by 2016.
The estimated total project costs are US$80 million. The project can be considered to be in Phase 3 of
the ICA Project Development Phases. Possible project financiers are UNDP and the FAO.
The major project challenges are the timely sourcing of project finances, limited capacity within the
Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to implement strategies of the National Irrigation Plan in
Agro‐Ecological Region I, lack of political will and financial resources to invest in the identified areas.
Bulawayo‐Zambezi Water Supply Scheme (Project P1‐14)
Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and has a population estimated at 1 million people
(2006). It is regarded as Zimbabwe’s industrial hub and is strategically located in a position with easy
access to Botswana through the Plumtree Border Post, to Zambia through Victoria Falls Border Post
and to South Africa through the Beitbridge Border Post. Bulawayo is located in a semi‐arid region,
which is prone to droughts and, as such, water resources are limited. The city has been facing serious
water shortages for a long period. Many initiatives have been undertaken, including a water
conservation study and strategy carried out and developed sometime in the mid‐1990s. Water
rationing is a common measure applied frequently by Bulawayo to minimise the effects of the limited
water supply. As a long‐term strategy to solve the water supply problems of Bulawayo and the
Matabeleland North region, the Bulawayo‐Zambezi Project, was proposed, of which initial works
were carried out in the mid‐1990s. This project aims to augment the water supply of Bulawayo in
two approaches. The first involves the construction of the Gwayi‐Shangani dam, with a full supply
level capacity of 634 x 106 m3 and a pipeline from the dam to Cowdray Park in Bulawayo where a
water treatment plant and a reclamation plant will be constructed. The other component involves
the construction of a pipeline from the Zambezi River at Deka to Bulawayo by linking this line to the
one from Gwayi‐Shangani Dam at Kennedy Railway Siding.
An additional 1 000 000 persons will benefit from improved water supply and sanitation services,
while 6 500 ha will be put under irrigation from water from this project. It is also expected that the
Gwayi‐Shangani dam will be equipped to generate 20 MW.
The project proponent is the Ministry of Water Resources Development and Management. All
feasibility studies, EIAs and detailed designs were completed and construction of the dam started in
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