Geography

The landlocked Republic of Zambia covers 752 614 Km² between the latitudes 8°15’ and 18°7’ South of the equator and the longitudes of 22° to 34° East of the Greenwich Meridian. The Republic of Zambia, in Southern Africa, is surrounded by 8 countries namely: the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the north; Tanzania to the north-east; Malawi to the east; Mozambique; Zimbabwe; Botswana; and Namibia to the south; and Angola to the west. The Zambezi valley and Luangwa valley escarpments are mountainous and rocky, while the rest of the country is by and large a level to gently undulating plateau with slopes rarely exceeding 3 to 5%.

Population and land use

The population of Zambia is concentrated mainly along the line of rail; extending from Livingstone in the Southern Province to Chililabombwe on the Copperbelt Province. Zambia’s population is estimated to be 18 Million (Population Reference Bureau, 2019). Zambia has three major types of land use namely: (1) Agriculture land, which is 31.7% according to 2011 estimates, is further divided into arable land, permanent crop land and permanent pasture land; (2) Forestry land which is 66.3% according to 2011 estimates is land spanning more than 0.5 ha with trees higher than 5m and a canopy cover of more than 10% to include wind brakes, shelterbelts and corridors of trees greater than 0.5 ha and at least 20m wide; (3) Land classified as other which is 2% according to 2011 estimates, include built-up areas, roads and other transportation features, barren land or watershed.

Climate and rainfall

There are two main seasons; the rainy season (November to April) corresponding to summer, and the dry season (May/June to October/November), corresponding to winter. The modifying influence of altitude gives the country pleasant subtropical weather rather than tropical conditions during the cool season of May to August. However, average monthly temperatures remain above 20°C (68 °F) over most of the country for eight or more months of the year. The rainfall regime in the country is uni-modal occurring mainly between November and April. May to August is cool and dry with a gradual rise in temperature as the rainy season approaches. The country is subdivided into 36 agro-ecological zones which are grouped into three agro-ecological regions (IWMI, 2009). Region I cover the country’s major valleys that are drought-prone and characterized by low rainfall (< 600 mm per annum) and a short, hot growing season. Region II is the medium rainfall area (800-1 000 mm per annum) covering the Sandveld Plateau of Central, Eastern, Lusaka and Southern Province; Kalahari Sand Plateau; and Zambezi Floodplains of Western Province. Region III, experiences a total rainfall of 1,000-1,500 mm per annum and a growing season of 120-150 days, occupies 41% of the country including part of the Central African Plateau covering Northern, Luapula, Copperbelt and North-western provinces, and parts of Serenje and Mkushi districts in Central Province.

Food and agriculture

Agriculture contributes about 8% of Zambia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with maize, sugar, tobacco, cotton, wheat flour, and horticultural products accounting for about 12% of export earnings. However, performance has fluctuated significantly due to dependence on seasonal rainfall. Agriculture also provides for the livelihoods of 70% of the country’s population. About 58% (42 Mha) of the total land area is classified as medium to high potential for agricultural production. The agricultural belt is located in the central zone along the railway line from Livingstone to Lusaka, and from Lusaka to the Copper Belt. The cultivable land area in Zambia is estimated at 16.35 Mha. But approximately 5.3 Mha, representing 7% of the total area and 32% of the cultivable area, are actually cultivated. Maize, cassava, and sugarcane are the dominant crops by volume and value, with vegetables, rice, cottonseed, soybeans, groundnuts, wheat, and sweet potatoes also making a substantial contribution. Cassava and maize are staple foods for most households. There are about 6,00,000 smallholder farmers who produce most of the country’s cassava, cotton, millet, and sorghum, as well as over 90% of its maize. Large-scale farmers focus on cash crops, while small-scale farmers focus on food crops.

Water resources management

Zambia is well endowed with water resources, with an estimate of 40% of the underground and surface water resources in the Southern Africa Development Committee (SADC) region thereby offering huge opportunities for fish farming, livestock production and irrigated agriculture. The country is estimated to be receiving 160 Bm³ of rainfall annually. Wetlands, dambos, rivers and lakes allow for agricultural water management and, with good market infrastructure, support high-value crops. Currently, there are six medium to large dams with a total storage of about 188,105 Mm³, most of which is for power generation. In addition, there are about 2,000 small dams spread across the country with an estimated storage of about 200 Mm³. Water resources infrastructure is a critical component in the provision of sustainable water resources management and services for engineered irrigation, drainage, water supply and sanitation, hydropower generation, flood control and food security.

Irrigation and drainage

Zambia’s irrigation potential is about 2.75 Mha (8% of arable land) based on water availability and soil irrigability class. Since time immemorial, small-scale farmers all over the country have practiced informal irrigation in their gardens, i.e. they applied water in an undocumented, casual, artificial way using buckets, watering cans and hosepipes to grow vegetables, rice, bananas and some local sugarcane varieties along streams, rivers and in dambos. Areas irrigated in this manner are usually small in size ranging from 100 - 200 m². However, the introduction of treadle pumps has improved the efficiency of watering these gardens and farmers are now able to irrigate with one treadle pump areas ranging from 1,000 - 2,500 m². Currently approximately 2,58,000 ha of land are irrigated in Zambia, out of which 4,400 ha is irrigated by small scale farmers, and the balance is worked on by large scale farmers. Some of the small-scale farmers use treadle pumps to irrigate; it is estimated that more than 3,000 treadle pumps are in use. Although sugarcane, wheat, and vegetables are increasingly produced using central pivots, sprinklers, and drip irrigation, nearly 60% of irrigation is still carried out using surface techniques.

River basins

Zambia is drained by two major river basins namely: (1) the Zambezi/Kafue basin in the center, west and south covering about three-quarters of the country; and (2) the Congo basin in the north covering about one-quarter of the country. In the Zambezi basin, there are a number of major rivers flowing wholly or partially through Zambia: the Kabompo, Lungwebungu, Kafue, Luangwa, and the Zambezi itself, which flows through the country in the west and then forms its southern border with three countries being Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. The Congo River Basin comprises the Chambeshi, Luapula and the Tanganyika catchments and is situated in the northern part of the country. Extending over the northern and north-eastern parts of Zambia, the Congo Basin is shared with eight other riparian states.

Water policies

Since 2019 the country has been revising the policy into an agricultural water development and management policy. Irrigation development in the country is guided by the National Irrigation Policy and Strategy of 2004 (MACO/FAO 2004a) which is being revised. It states that ‘Development of small-scale irrigation schemes will be done where these are socially and economically viable’. Its overall thrust can be summarized as follows: (1) to remove constraints for existing irrigators, thereby encouraging new private investment that increases area and productivity; while (2) encouraging the emergence and gradual commercialization of new irrigators from among traditional farmers. The policy is to build irrigation infrastructure and immediately hand over to small-scale farmers. In November 1994, the Government of Zambia adopted the National Water Policy whose main aim was to provide a holistic management approach to the water sector. The overall objective of the water policy was: “To promote sustainable water resources development with a view of facilitating an equitable provision of an adequate quantity and quality of water for all competing users at acceptable cost and ensuring security of supply under varying conditions”. Zambia shares the Zambezi river with Zimbabwe and Lake Tanganyika/Congo river basin with the Republic of Congo. The international agreements on shared management of the Zambezi River and Lake Tanganyika/Congo river basin are covered within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) protocol on shared watercourse systems which was signed by all heads of the 14 SADC member states.

ICID and National Committee

Zambian National Committee, ICID (ZACID) became a member of ICID in 1966. The national committee has been active up to around 2007. However, the membership to ICID was re-established around 2014. Meanwhile all Southern African Region Irrigation Association (SARIA) and ZACID activities are being coordinated by Ministry of Agriculture (MoA)’s Department of Agriculture (DoA) through the Irrigation Engineering Section (IES). Every year ZACID participates in SARIA annual meetings.