LIMCOM participants at Regional Circular Food Systems Policy Dialogue

Summary

As part of the meeting, LIMCOM participated in a session on “Circular Goods Systems through the WEFE Nexus: From Local Innovation and Research to policy and Basin-Level Impact.”

The 2026 Regional Circular Food Systems (CFS) policy dialogue was successfully held on 27-29 May 2026 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe with a call for stakeholders to adopt food systems that are more sustainable and climate resilient.

The theme for the meeting was “Advancing Climate Resilient, Resource Efficient Farming in Eastern and Southern Africa.”

As part of the meeting, LIMCOM participated in a session on “Circular Goods Systems through the WEFE Nexus: From Local Innovation and Research to policy and Basin-Level Impact.”

The session that was co-convened by the Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWPSA) in partnership with the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) and the Dabane Water wrkshops explored how community-level innovations can be scaled through basin governance and transboundary cooperation, placing water security at the heart of the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus.

LIMCOM shared practical lessons from its Sustainable Land Management (SLM) pilot sites that are being implemented in each of the four Member States at the Mogobane Dam (Botswana); Massingir Dam (Mozambique); Mapoch (South Africa); and Guyu Chelesa (Zimbabwe).

The main aim of implementing SLM activities at a pilot scale is to reduce land degradation including sedimentation and improve land productivity for replication and up-scaling through socio-economic beneficiation opportunities inclusive of payment for ecosystem services models.

Implementation of SLM pilot sites is being undertaken as part of the “Integrated Transboundary River Basin Management for the Sustainable Development of the Limpopo River Basin,” project supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The project seeks to achieve integrated, cross-sectoral, ecosystem-based management of the Limpopo River.

The 2026 Regional CFS policy dialogue was organized by the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network – FANRPAN and partners, including the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).

The meeting brought together policymakers, researchers, development partners, private sector actors, farmers, and regional institutions to advance climate-resilient and resource-efficient food systems in Eastern and Southern Africa.