Policy Recommendations

From 10 to 12 December 2019, at the Hotel Radisson in Lusaka, a National Workshop took place to present the updated flood and drought risk profiles. The Workshop was organized by the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit in the Office of VicePresident (DMMU), the United Nations Regional Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and CIMA Research Foundation - International Centre for Environmental Monitoring (Italy).

The workshop was opened by Her Excellency Ms Olipa Phiri Mwanza Minister, Office of the Vice President. Mr. Anderson Banda, Director of Disaster Risk Management, DMMU chaired the opening, with the remarks from the representative of the United Nations Regional Office for Disaster Risk Reduction in Africa, Ms. Katarina Mouakkid Solstesova, Ms. Gift Malunga - UNFPA Country Representative, and the representative of CIMA Research Foundation, Dr. Marco Massabò.

Following working discussions over three days of activities, the workshop’s participants proposed the following National Disaster Risk Reduction Policies Recommendations:

1. The results of the risk profile highlight that on average more than 19.600 people per year are potentially affected, including more than 40% of the most vulnerable population (children and elderly). Zambia needs to develop a land use planning policy that regulates the identification of safe zones for critical infrastructure such as schools and hospitals. This would reduce the exposure of two traditionally vulnerable groups: children and the ill and, as an added benefit, these could also be used as hubs for safety and coordination during flood events. Using the results provided in the risk profiles, the hotspot areas can be identified, more local risk assessments should be carried out in high-risk areas. The local risk assessment should inform the new land use planning policy.

2. Land use planning policies should emphasize that no major housing or infrastructure developments be built in flood-prone areas, as well as in areas predicted to see major flooding in the future. This measure alone, however, would likely be insufficient as many people currently ignore existing government recommendations and live in catchment areas. A mechanism to ensure the effective implementation of land use policies, one that guarantees the resettlement of families elsewhere, should be examined.

3. The government should adapt its building codes according to the evolution of flood risk that is predicted in the projected climate. This would reduce vulnerabilities of buildings and hence reduce the damages of floods to infrastructures. Additionally, the government could use the risk profiles to prioritize the areas of enforcement for current building codes if it lacks the resources for wide-scale implementation at the country level.

4. It is recommended that a flood and drought insurance mechanism be put in place, using data from the risk profiles as a starting point. Zambia is already moving in this direction with the support of Africa Risk Capacity. Future discussions should include the adoption of a policy that determines where the line is drawn between an individual and government insurance responsibility.

5. The government should ensure the existence of emergency and recovery plans for floods and droughts, from the national to the ward level, taking into consideration the areas that are most disaster-prone as identified in the risk profile.

6. The risk profile shows droughts to have an important impact on livestock and the livelihood of pastoral communities (4 million livestock units per year). It is recommended that the government promote improved livestock breeds and raising techniques that would help reduce these impacts. It is also recommended that the government regulate grazing areas to better manage them.

7. Persistent droughts have been depleting groundwater resources in Zambia. In many regions, boreholes are already drying up, with far-reaching impacts on livestock. It is proposed that the dams used to produce energy be optimized, turning them into livestock rotary points: a place where all livestock from a determined area could use for drinking water.

8. The risk profile indicates that hydropower losses will increase in the south of the country (Kariba dam) and decrease in the other hydropower stations. As suggested by the workshop participants, it is proposed that the number of dams be increased in areas where productivity is set to rise in the projected future.

9. Compared to current climate conditions, losses in hydropower generation are predicted to increase by almost 50% under projected climate conditions. To move away from the country’s dependence on hydroelectricity, it is proposed that the government should look to diversify its energy sources. Examples of sources discussed included solar, biomass and wind power.

10. It is recommended that the government invest in using drought-resilient crops and in reducing its dependence on maize. Subsidies could be used to incentivize farmers to transition. Certain regions less sensitive to drought, once again through the use of subsidies, could be encouraged to grow more sensitive and lucrative cash crops, while others could grow more resistant subsistence crops. A consensus was established that the government should increase its investments in climate-smart techniques in the agricultural sector overall.

11. Many concerns have been raised about the need to review the country’s water policies. For example, there is an urgent need to better regulate boreholes so that these stop drying up. The risk profiles make one trend obvious: the north-east will continue to become more wet and the south-west will continue to become drier. Water transfer infrastructure at the national scale could be discussed. Generally, more cooperation should take place at the national level around water resources and there should be an increased focus on recharge areas.

51 wikipedia.org