Incomati basin, 2001
Handouts B
Development Project, which will irrigate 6,000 ha of sugarcane for smallholders from the new Maguga Nkomati Basin dam, a joint venture with South Africa (Mwendera et al., 2002). In the lower Komati and Lomati rivers in South Africa, the Nkomazi Irrigation Expansion Programme involves the development of 6,500 ha of irrigated sugarcane for emergent black farmers, drawing water from the Maguga dam in Swaziland and Driekoppies dam in South Africa (Waalewijn, 2002). In Mozambique the efforts are focused on rehabilitating existing irrigation infrastructure. An icon of the new era of regional integration is the "peace park" concept, which involves the merging of three National Parks in three countries located in the Incomati and Limpopo river basins, namely Gaza (in Mozambique), Kruger (in South Africa) and Ghonarezhou (in Zimbabwe). The idea was mooted by Mr Anton Rupert, the founder and chairman of the South African chapter of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature, who presented his initiative to the Mozambican president Chissano as early as 1991, just after Nelson Mandela was released and Mozambique had adopted its new constitution. Mr Rupert was well acquainted with the area, as he owned a private park adjacent to Kruger, as well as the TSB sugar company. By 2002, the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park is a fact, the first elephants having been moved across borders. In sum, the contrast between the 1980s and the 1990s could hardly have been starker. Developments during the 1990s were characterised by cooperation and economic integration, and a new thrust of economic development. This rosy picture was temporarily disturbed by the floods of February 2000 that devastated southern Mozambique (Box 5.1). The floods triggered immediate assistance by South Africa and a watershed of relief support by the international community, and emphasised once more the need for further regional cooperation. Box 5.1: The floods of February 2000 (Brito, 2002) Heavy rains, which started in early February 2000, flooded parts of Mozambique's southern provinces. The Save, Limpopo, Incomati and Umbeluzi rivers, which have their head-waters in Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa and Swaziland, reached their highest-ever recorded levels in early March, and many riparian communities were submerged for weeks. 699 people died, 95 disappeared, and one million people required some form of emergency assistance. Large sections of the major road connecting Maputo to the north were demolished. Bridges along the Limpopo flood plain and the railroad were damaged. About 20,000 cattle drowned and 140,000 hectares of crops were destroyed, with the largest irrigation scheme in the country (25,000 ha, along the Limpopo) seriously damaged. Health centres as well as water supply and sanitation infrastructure in many towns and villages suffered extensive damage, exposing one million people to water-borne diseases such as cholera, malaria and diarrhoea. The destruction caused by the floods is estimated at US$ 600 million. Mozambique’s economic growth went down from 10% in 1999 to 2% in 2000.
WaterNet / CCR / ISRI / Catalic / UNESCO-IHE Delft / UZ for UNESCO
Course B
Conflict Prevention and Cooperation in International Water Resources
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