Sustainable Landscape Management

ABOUT PROJECT

Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) International, Lusaka in partnership with Solidaridad, under the Sustainable Landscapes Management Programme have collaborated to carry out a project on ‘Sustainable Landscape Management’.

The project aims to catalyze and maintain collective action for improved sustainable landscape management in Mazabuka district in the Lower Kafue Sub-Basin (LKSB). This is to secure the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, rural households and private sector business operations.
The expected impact of the programme is to improve governance of the landscape, which will lead to sustainable development in Mazabuka and LKSB.
The Lower Kafue Sub-Basin (LKSB) comprises the area from the Itezhi-Tezhi Dam to the confluence with the Zambezi River which is where Mazabuka District is located. In addition to the pressure that development has had on land and water resources in the Mazabuka District, climate change will most likely cause higher temperatures which will result in increasing evapotranspiration, and reducing water volumes in the already stressed Kafue River. Unless coordinated action is taken, the quality and quantity of water and land resources in the Lower Kafue Sub-Basin (LKSB) will continue to lessen and have major consequences for domestic and industrial sectors.

Given that the Mazabuka District is one of the most productive districts in Zambia in terms of agriculture, and is highly dependent on this water resource, there is an urgent need for the Mazabuka district to ensure the sustainable management of its natural resources. Unless coordinated action is taken, the quality and quantity of water and land resources in the Lower Kafue Sub-Basin (LKSB) will continue to lessen and have major consequences for domestic and industrial sectors. Given that the Mazabuka District is one of the most productive districts in Zambia in terms of agriculture, and is highly dependent on this water resource, there is an urgent need for the Mazabuka district to ensure the sustainable management of its natural resources.

While this situation will have a great impact on water and food security in the basin, thereby affecting the sustainability of the livelihoods of those who depend on the natural resources, in addition to the residents of Mazabuka, Lusaka residents are also at risk of suffering the consequences of this climatic variation. Food produced in the LKSB is largely consumed in Lusaka and 46 percent of Lusaka’s water supply is supplied by Kafue River.