Kafue Flats Climate Resilience and Adaptation Project (KaF-Adapt)

The project is focused on the Kafue Flats, a region of Zambia with high vulnerability to climate change and exposure of agro-pastoralist communities to intensifying drought and flood hazards. Historical trends and future projections in the south of Zambia indicate a decline in rainfall and increase in temperature over the period to 2050, with more intense rainfall events and longer dry spells, increasing droughts and flash floods. The communities of the seven Kafue Flats chiefdoms are already experiencing negative impacts – reduced pasture, decreased water availability, lower crop yields, increase in pests, and poor livestock health. Reduced quality of grazing also affects wildlife such as the Kafue Lechwe, important for income from tourism and community based natural resource management. The project seeks to reduce vulnerability of communities to water scarcity, and promote adaptation through resilient livelihoods in the Kafue Flats. It complements the WWF GEF-supported “Securing the species, habitat, health, and livelihoods of the Lower Kafue Ecosystem” (KaF-Wild) Project, funded by the GEF in the same area and time-frame.

The four KaF-Adapt components address: (1) the enabling environment for climate change adaptation; (2) water security and holistic rangeland management; (3) climate-resilient livelihoods and value chains; and (4) knowledge and learning. Additional adaptation benefits include: 5,060 community members with more resilient assets and diversified livelihoods; 25,000 hectares of rangeland under climate-resilient management; climate change integrated into six district plans, and two climate-resilient enterprises incubated. The project will be executed by Zambia’s Ministry of Green Economy and Environment with support from the International Crane Foundation as financial administrator and executing partner, and WWF-GEF as GEF Agency.