USAID works to enhance resiliency of critical river basins, such as the Okavango, Limpopo, and Orange-Senque river basins in Southern Africa, while also improving capacity to cope with climate change and advance environmental innovation.

USAID Southern Africa Regional

USAID promotes sustainable economic growth in targeted areas by integrating climate change into policy and decision making, and ensuring sound management of transboundary natural resources. We support the Global Climate Change Initiative and Congressional Biodiversity and Water goals.

Through our environmental programs, we enhance resiliency of critical river basins, improve capacity to cope with climate change, advance environmental innovation and support low emissions development. 

Programs Enhancing Resiliency of Southern Africa’s River Basins

We improve transboundary management and decision making for water, biodiversity, and associated natural resources resulting in sustainable, equitable and rational use of natural resources to meet human development and ecological needs.  Many countries in the Southern Africa region are either currently experiencing water scarcity or are vulnerable to water stress. The integrity of ecosystems is under threat, with biological diversity being lost. Climate change is likely to exacerbate these problems, with the potential to limit economic development in the decades to come.  All major rivers in the region flow across national boundaries and cooperative decision making and management is necessary to conserve biodiversity and ensure equitable and efficient use of water and other natural resources.

We currently work in the Okavango River Basin (including parts of Angola, Botswana and Namibia), the Limpopo River Basin (including parts of South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe), and the Orange-Senqu River Basin (including parts of Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia).

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Regional Environment Program

Southern Africans Tackle Poaching:  Conserving wildlife in the Okavango River Basin