The aim of IWRM Community Projects is to strengthen the capacities of local communities to apply IWRM through the adoption of a practical approach of “learning by doing”. The community projects are designed to directly improve livelihoods and focus on initiatives such as water supply, water sanitation and hygiene, water storage, disaster risks reduction, and small scale irrigation, among others. The purpose of this project will be to demonstrate the benefits of IWRM to promote peace and security reduce poverty and improve climate resilience within the context of shared watercourses. The project will act as a catalyst for replication and scaling-up approaches to improve water resources development and management at national and river basin levels.
The proposed project is in Keetmanshoop and will establish an irrigation project utilising (re-use) semi-purified waste water from the Keetmanshoop sewage works on un/under-utilised land around/adjacent to the sewage works for the purpose of producing livestock fodder that can either be processed and sold or utilised in downstream value-adding agricultural activities such as dairy production. The objective of the proposed phase will be the establishment of the fodder production component.
Ms Bernadette Shalumbu and Ms Caroline Ketshabile (Office Manager, RODECO, Gaborone office)
The community coordinators for the project; Ms Bernadette Shalumbu and Mr Ulrich Dawids attended a two day workshop in Gaborone Botswana, with all the community coordinators from the 4 riparian countries namely: Botswana, Lesotho, Mozmbique and South Africa. The aim of this workshop was to plan for the next project phase (community assessment and planning) and to share progress to date.