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Home The project IWAREMA IWAREMA Zambia is trying to support the Zambian governmental institutions and the research sector in improving the information baseline by providing information products being used in decision- and policy-making processes. The overall goal of the Innovator project IWAREMA Zambia in the context of the TIGER initiative is to improve the data situation by developing spatial data inputs for an integrated management concept for Zambia's water resources that is set up by Zambian government. The specific objectives are to provide the end-user team - consisting of the Ministry of Energy and Water Development (MEWD) through the Department of Water Affairs (DWA), the Ministry of Local Government and Housing through the Department of Infrastructure and Support Services (MLGH-DISS), the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MACO) through the Department of Agriculture and the University of Zambia through the Department of Geology in the School of Mines - with a set of service products that are derived from earth observation and that shall enable the end-user to increase their capabilities in the management of their water resources. The Service Case Area is the Kafue River Basin, which is a sub-basin of the Zambezi River. The total area of the Kafue Basin is 152.000 km², the location within Zambia is presented in the figure below. Ideally, the products shall be upscaled in the longer term to cover the entire Zambian part of the Zambezi River Basin. The Zambezi River Basin is one of the 6 large watersheds in Africa. Grassland and savannah/shrubland cover it to 72%, another 20% are cropland. Forest areas cover only 4% of the land surface and not even 1% is occupied by artificial/urban fabric. About 8% are covered by wetlands that are very valuable regions for the conversation of biological diversity within and beyond the basin. The Zambezi basin belongs to the 37% of World's large river basins that are strongly affected by river fragmentation and flow alteration, i.e. the interruption of a river's natural flow by dams, inter-basin transfers, or water withdrawal. This is an indicator of the degree to which rivers have been modified by humans. The Kafue River Basin as sub-catchment of the Zambezi reveals very similar characteristics, the proportion of urban areas is higher since the capital of Zambia, Lusaka, is located within the Kafue Basin. |
 Location of Kafue River Basin in Zambia (highlighted in yellow in zoom image) |