Synthesis Report - Cubango-Okavango River Basin Water Audit (CORBWA) Project

Abstract

Home to one of the last near-pristine aquatic system of the world, the Cubango-Okavango river basin faces the challenge of sustaining the livelihoods of nearly 900 000 people in three countries (Angola, Namibia and Botswana) while preserving its unique ecosystem. FAO has been providing support to the Permanent Okavango River Basin Commission (OKACOM) since the year 2000 through the implementation of the Environmental Protection and Sustainable Management of the Okavango (EPSMO) project , on which this Cubango-Okavango River Basin Water Audit (CORBWA) builds. A Water Audit provides a country administration or a river basin organization with a comprehensive methodology for assessing, analysing and reporting of the use of increasingly scarce water resources. On the supply side, the audit provides information about the water availability. On the demand side, it gives a detailed picture, on how the water is used, for which purpose, and with which value. A detailed asses sment of agricultural water use, including its productivity, its value-in-use, and its efficiency during the water use process, gives countries handles to adapt water policies and improve water management plans for the future through strategic and integrated interventions to increase their capacity to cope with water scarcity. This report presents a synthesis of sixteen thematic reports which describe the different components of the CORBWA in the three riparian countries and at basin level.