FAO raises alert on high flooding risks in parts of southern Africa

FAO: Thousands of hectares of agricultural land and crops have been damaged by floods and heavy rains in parts of southern Africa, and more damage may occur in the coming weeks if above normal rains persist. This is raising concern about the food security of the affected population in the poorer parts of the sub-region over the coming months.

With the rainy season still only half way through, and with the cyclone season due to peak in February, several agricultural areas along the rivers in southern African countries remain at high risk of flooding, including portions of Botswana, Lesotho Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

“Food insecurity levels are already critical in the affected areas of some of these countries and floods will only further worsen the ability of poor farmers to cope and feed their families in the coming months,” said Cindy Holleman, FAO Regional Emergency Coordinator for Southern Africa. FAO is working with regional and national early warning systems to monitor the evolution in major river basins and to assess the impact on food crops.

In Lesotho, for example, one of the poorest countries in the sub-region, an FAO assessment team found that in some of the flooded areas up to 60 percent of harvests have been lost and over 4 700 livestock, mainly sheep and goats are dead.

Localized crop losses are also reported along river banks in southern and central Mozambique. The government has declared a red alert for central and southern Mozambique as water flows in the major rivers are above alert levels.

South Africa has already declared a national state of disaster in many districts of the country due to the floods that have destroyed thousands of hectares of crop land, and caused damages estimated in the millions of dollars…

The Limpopo River flooded in Southern Mozambique in 2000

First-of-kind Lesotho water study precipitated by climate change concerns

Dennis Ndaba in Engineering News (South Africa): Concern by Lesotho’s Metolong Authority regarding the possible negative impact that climate change might have on the long-term yield of the proposed Metolong dam led to the commissioning of a first-of-its-kind study, which shows that the dam’s yield is unlikely to decrease in the next 50 years.

…The climate change study forms part of the Metolong Programme, a multidisciplinary project that will run over a number of years and will consist of the Metolong dam, water treatment works, a downstream conveyance system, advanced infrastructure and a comprehensive environmental and social management programme.

The estimated cost of the implementation of the Metolong Programme is $370-million, which will be provided by the Kuwait Fund, the Arab Fund for Economic Development in Africa, the Saudi Fund for Development and the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Fund for International Development.

…Experts from consulting firm Arcus Gibb, supported by consultants from Jeffares & Green, who specialise in the fields of hydrology, water resources planning and the impacts of climate change on hydro-climatic hazards, looked at the possible effects of climate change on an infrastructure that will need to stand for at least the next 100 years.

“The issue of climate change and its impacts on water resources is not new but planners are increasingly concerned about the possible negative impacts of climate change on the usable yields from dams and water resource systems,” says Jeffares & Green associate Gerald de Jager….

Lesotho's Maletsunyane falls, found near the village of Semonkong, shot by BagelBelt, who has released the image into the public domain