Botswana holds inception meeting to develop National Action Plan

Summary

Mr. Daniel Moatshe, the Regional Manager in the Department of Water and Sanitation said the exercise to develop a NAP is critical for the country since the Limpopo is a key strategic basin for Botswana.

Stakeholders in Botswana met on 10 July 2025 in Gaborone to craft a National Action Plan (NAP) for the Limpopo River Basin (LRB) and contribute to the development of a comprehensive Strategic Action Plan (SAP) for the entire basin.

The national meeting follows the approval of the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) report for the LRB in June 2025. The TDA report identified and prioritized key transboundary water-related environmental problems that need urgent attention in the basin.  Some of the key challenges include land degradation, sedimentation and deteriorating water quality.

The SAP aims to outline basin-wide interventions to address the identified challenges, while the NAP focuses on country-specific strategies tailored to the national context.

Mr. Daniel Moatshe, the Regional Manager in the Department of Water and Sanitation said the exercise to develop a NAP is critical for the country since the Limpopo is a key strategic basin for Botswana.

“The Limpopo River Basin is home to about 70 percent of Botswana’s population and our nine water supply dams are located in the basin,” he said.

“Our joint effort in sustainable management of the LRB is of benefit to us for both water demand management and water resources protection. Therefore, we are expected to provide our expertise collectively to guide the formulation of the NAP.”

LIMCOM Senior Technical Advisor, Dr. Ebenizáo Chonguiça said similar national workshops for the development of NAPs will be held all the other LIMCOM countries.

Formulation of the TDA/SAP and NAP process for the LRB is an initiative of the project “Integrated Transboundary River Basin Management for the Sustainable Development of the Limpopo River Basin.”

LIMCOM is implementing the project in partnership with the Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWPSA), with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).