Climate-resilient development & enhanced adaptive capacity for disaster risk in Angola’s Cuvelai River Basin

As noted in the opening of a ground-breaking study published in 2011, the “Cuvelai is different!”  It is not a delta nor a river nor an alluvial fan. The Cuvelai Basin is perhaps unique in the world as a drainage system that consists of hundreds of channels that join and separate thousands of times. It has a geographical area of 159,620 km2 split between Angola and Namibia, extends over 450 kilometers from north to south and covers more than half of the Province of Cunene in Angola. Slivers of the Cuvelai Basin also lie within the Angolan provinces of Cuando Cubango and Huila. Part of Cuvelai’s water comes from the headwaters on the southern slopes of the Angolan highlands but most channels begin as broad courses right along the Cunene River. The Cunene River is 1,050 km long and is one of the few perennial rivers in this region with a mean annual discharge of 5.5 km³ at its mouth. Local rivers provide water to these channels (called iishanas) that mesh, network and divide on their way downstream to the famous Etosha Pan. For much of the year, most channels hold no water and fill only after summer rains. Rainfall in the northern-most catchment area averages about 900 mm per year, just over double the historical average of 400 mm in the south. Compared to surrounding areas the Cuvelai Basin is home to a very large number of people, largely because of the presence of shallow groundwater and relatively fertile soil in many areas. Among the many livelihood activities practiced by local people are rain-fed agriculture and livestock-raising, principally cattle. The borderland of the Basin is clearly visible from space due to the fact that there have been considerably higher rates of deforestation on the Namibia side compared to the Angola side.

This project specifically focuses on support for NAPA priorities 7 (Create an early warning system for flooding and storms) and 13 (Climate monitoring and data management system). These two NAPA priorities are intricately linked (and have therefore been bundled together for the purpose of this project) since establishment of a comprehensive famine and flood early warning systems (FFEWS) – including downscaled seasonal forecast delivery systems – is one key component of a more broad-based climate monitoring and data management system, which also includes climate information dissemination and capacity-building. As the NAPA notes, there is “insufficient climate monitoring infrastructure in Angola and as a result, early warning is nearly impossible in the country.” Agricultural planning and extension is also made difficult due to the lack of appropriate seasonal forecasts and climate monitoring information; even if systems are established the data must be shared with key stakeholders at the local level to develop appropriate site-specific responses, such as distribution of flood-resistant seed varieties. 

In addition to responding to these NAPA priorities as classified on a sectoral level, the project has been specifically designed to address the specific needs of a particularly vulnerable region of the country: the Angolan portion of the Cuvelai River Basin and more specifically the Province of Cunene (see Section B). In an effort to better understand the different dimensions of vulnerability across the whole country, as part of the NAPA formulation process it was decided to divide Angola into various geographic areas in which each one represented a type of vulnerability. In each province, consultations took place at 4 different levels: with local authorities, non-governmental organisations, private sector entities as well as the population of specific locations providing evidence as to the types of vulnerability in a certain area and providing input into a list of context-specific adaptation priorities.

The province of Cunene was chosen as the NAPA priority province for “integrated vulnerabilities”   due to a rare confluence of factors that classify it as the most vulnerable province in the country as regards significant climate-induced risks, particularly as it applies to what was identified as the highest ranked topical threat in the NAPA: flooding and water-induced soil erosion. Thus the populations who will most directly benefit from this project are those that are most vulnerable to floods and other disasters due to the risks factors identified in the NAPA.

Finally in line with LDCF guidelines the project is based on a learning-by-doing approach. Angola has recently emerged from what was one of Africa’s most protracted conflicts. The civil war between 1975 and 2002 resulted in the destruction of infrastructure and the breakdown of institutions of all kinds. The ability of the Angolan Government to maintain an administrative presence and collect and monitor data of all kinds during this period was also negatively impacted by the war. The primary geographic focus of this project – the Cuvelai River Basin – was one of the regions most affected by the war and remains poorly understood by both development practitioners and climate experts, both as regards its basic geography (climate, soils and hydrology) and socioeconomic characteristics. In many Angolan provinces there has been almost no donor presence until recently. At the same time decentralization, or the delegation of administrative and fiscal responsibilities to sub-national units of government, is slowly taking place in Angola albeit at a slow and uneven pace; much information gathered at national levels still does not reach local authorities. This particular project involves several layers of government – from national entities to provincial and municipal level authorities – and builds on a variety of recently proposed initiatives that seek to address the complex climate-related challenges facing this critically important trans-boundary wetland.  As such this project will by default need to assume a rigorous adaptive management approach and adopt a learning and information-sharing orientation from the onset, with the potential to indirectly benefit a much larger population than just its intended beneficiaries and hopefully inform the development of similar multi-stakeholder efforts in other provinces of the country. The GoA, in partnership with USAID efforts, will seek to communicate all relevant findings, conclusions and recommendations to neighboring governments as well as SADC experts on climate‐related disasters.