Taking ownership of the project to ensure sustainability and greater impact

Summary

To complement the Global Environment Facility (GEF) grant support, LIMCOM Member States - Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe - are actively contributing various resources both financial and in‑kind support to ensure the successful implementation of the project.

One of the notable success stories of the LIMCOM flagship project, “Integrated Transboundary River Basin Management for the Sustainable Development of the Limpopo River Basin,” is that Member States have assumed full ownership of the project to ensure sustainability and greater impact.

LIMCOM Member States, through its Secretariat, are implementing the project in partnership with the Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWPSA), supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

To complement the GEF grant support, LIMCOM Member States – Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe – are actively contributing various resources both financial and in‑kind support to ensure the successful implementation of the project.

This co‑financing approach has strengthened sustainability, reinforced ownership and amplified the overall impact of the project

The most recent contribution from Member States is the ZedNet and Water Core capacity‑building training session currently taking place at the Gariep Dam in South Africa.

Organized by South Africa in support of the GEF‑funded project, the training programme that is running 16-20 March, aims to equip LIMCOM Member States with skills on ZedNet and Water Core, with a particular focus on the LIMCOM Real‑Time Data Management System (RTDMS).

ZedNet is a web‑based software solution designed to provide management information on both the water resource itself, and the monitoring hardware installed within a water distribution system. On the other hand, RTDMS is a specialized platform designed to collect, process and analyze real-time hydrometeorological data for improved decision-making.

The capacity‑building training programme follows the successful installation of hydrometric stations across the basin in 2025/26 under the GEF‑funded project.

Installation of the equipment is aimed at strengthening the hydrometric network for the Limpopo through the reinforcement of monitoring systems, the development of real-time operational tools and the improvement of rating tables.

Ultimately, this seeks to improve transboundary water resources management for the rivers shared by the four Riparian States to support the Limpopo Flood Forecasting and Early Warning System (FFEWS).

Improving the Limpopo FFEWS will ensure that the basin, which is a lifeline to millions of people across the basin, prepares effectively for floods and mitigates their impact.

Furthermore, this work aligns with the Limpopo Management Information System (LIMIS), an interactive, web-based data and information management tool designed to collect, organize and transform relevant data into actionable knowledge products to provide knowledge-based support to LIMCOM Member States.