Water and sanitation infrastructure is usually framed as a public service or a climate-resilience necessity, but it can also be seen as something more: a vast portfolio of long-lived public assets that societies must steward over generations.
This article was originally published on The Water Diplomat website.
As the Global Water Bankruptcy report published this week makes clear, the world has moved beyond a temporary water crisis into a structural condition in which many water systems can no longer recover to historical baselines. This reality demands a fundamental shift in how water infrastructure is planned, financed, and managed. A 2024 joint report by ten Multilateral Development Banks reinforces this picture, showing that water security investments remain inadequate, fragmented, and too often fail to translate into long-lasting infrastructure performance.
At the heart of this problem lies what the Dutch Water Authorities and their partners describe as the Build–Neglect–Rebuild (BNR) cycle. Water systems are constructed, then gradually neglected due to inadequate operations and maintenance (O&M), leading to premature deterioration and eventually costly repairs or reconstruction.
The causes are well known: weak long-term asset management strategies, insufficient funding and human resources for O&M, limited data and technical capacity, and governance arrangements that do not prioritise lifecycle performance.
The consequences extend far beyond higher long-run costs. Service disruptions undermine progress on Sustainable Development Goal 6 and erode public trust in water institutions. At the macro level, the maintenance obligation alone can be significant: World Bank estimates suggest that maintaining existing infrastructure may require annual allocations of 2.5-3.7% of GDP, depending on income level – a scale that helps explain why maintenance is often deferred when budgets tighten.
Water and sanitation infrastructure – pumping stations, levees, reservoirs, treatment plants, networks, and coastal defences – embodies enormous economic, environmental, and social value. Together with the water resources they manage, these systems form a distinctive water asset class: capital intensive, long lived, and deeply intertwined with the natural water cycle. Managing them effectively therefore requires an approach that looks beyond construction to performance, maintenance, and lifecycle value.
This article sheds light on solutions in addressing these gaps, essential if investments in water infrastructure are to deliver resilient, equitable, and sustainable services over time, particularly as the international community looks toward the 2026 UN Water Conference as a moment to reset the global water agenda.
Blue Deal Mozambique
Building versus managing infrastructure
Over the past decades, countries have poured resources into building the physical backbone of water security. These assets are essential to economic development and public health. Yet the global challenge is no longer only about what we build – it is increasingly about what we manage. A persistent imbalance sits at the heart of water infrastructure economics: capital expenditure is visible, fundable, and politically attractive – while the ongoing work of operations, maintenance and renewal is often underprovided. An OECD study on financing water points out that tariffs are frequently set below what is needed to recover the costs of operations and maintenance (O&M), and that in water supply and sanitation, capital costs account for roughly half of total service provision costs – meaning that expenditure on Operations and Maintenance (O&M) is not a marginal add-on, but a major share of the lifecycle cost of reliable service.
The Blue Deal: towards effective asset management
In 2018, the Dutch Water Authorities (DWA), together with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Infrastructure and Water Management launched the Blue Deal, an international programme working with partners in 15 countries towards clean, safe and sufficient water.
The Blue Deal’s approach to asset management covers the entire lifecycle of infrastructure assets. This requires long-term strategic planning, sustained investment, and clear choices on priorities. Similarly, this lifecycle-based approach is also embedded in the Dutch drinking water companies (VEI), Partners for Water, and VNG International, which each play a distinct but complementary role in strengthening asset management, governance systems, and the financial and institutional foundations needed for long-term infrastructure performance.
Tackling build-neglect-repair in practice: aligned interventions in Mozambique
Breaking the BNR cycle requires more than isolated projects or single actors. In Mozambique, Dutch water – and municipal organisations are working in close alignment – not under one banner, but towards a shared objective: addressing the governance, financial, and asset-management weaknesses that cause water infrastructure to deteriorate long before the end of its design life. Rather than focusing on construction alone, these efforts concentrate on the systems that allow infrastructure to function, adapt, and endure.
From building assets to managing lifecycles
A first line of intervention focuses on operation, maintenance, and asset management, as is visible through the Blue Deal Mozambique partnership with the Municipality of Beira and the Beira Autonomous Sanitation Unit (SASB). Together, they are introducing structured maintenance planning for drainage canals and reservoirs, routine inspections, and systemwide assessments of urban drainage performance. In collaboration with VNG International (VNG International – the international cooperation agency of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities), dedicated O&M budgets and asset-specific maintenance plans aim to ensure that more than €150 million in flood and drainage investments continue to protect Beira’s residents over their full lifecycle – rather than slipping into disrepair after initial construction.
Making O&M financially viable
Another intervention addresses a core governance bottleneck: financial sustainability. Here, VNG International focuses on strengthening local revenue systems, including tariffs and municipal taxation. Partners for Water also plays a complementary role in this financial transition. Through the Beira Land Administration System phase 2 (BLAS2) project, Partners for Water supports the development of a sustainable land administration system that provides reliable property information – a foundation for improving the municipality’s own-source revenues, particularly in the area of property tax. BLAS2 is closely linked to the Sustainable Development through improved Local Governance (SDLG) programme of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which targets the broader strengthening of Beira’s tax system.
As a result of these combined efforts, property tax revenues have increased by more than €1.6 million, with a substantial share earmarked for the operation and maintenance of water-related infrastructure. This directly links improved land administration and fiscal reform to better-performing drainage, sanitation, and water systems.
Strengthening institutions, not just infrastructure
Technical improvements are reinforced through sustained institutional strengthening. Blue Deal experts support SASB in clarifying roles, building technical capacity, and estimating realistic long-term O&M funding needs across primary, secondary, and tertiary drainage systems.
In parallel, VNG International, in coordination with RVO/Partners for Water, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Dutch Embassy, and municipal and national partners, contributes to institutional reform and alignment across levels of government.
Since 2019, VNG International has also facilitated structured round-table dialogues with national institutions, the Municipality of Beira, and international partners such as the World Bank, Invest International, the EU Delegation, and German and French development banks. These sessions, organised under the SASB-PRO project, provide a platform to jointly analyse financial and institutional bottlenecks and to develop coordinated solutions for sustainable O&M of public drainage and sanitation infrastructure in Beira. By bringing national authorities, utilities, municipal actors and donors around the same table, these round-tables help to align mandates, strengthen accountability mechanisms, and anchor local improvements within a broader national system.
A major contribution from Partners for Water is the establishment of the Plataforma de Resiliência e Educação da Água de Beira (PREAB), established in 2025 by Beira’s cooperation partners, including the Municipality, SASB, FACE (NGO), Universidade Zambeze, Instituto Industrial e Comercial da Beira, and Young Africa.
PREAB is conceived as a long-term, locally anchored mechanism for technical capacity building, knowledge management, and institutional reinforcement. Rather than functioning as a short-term project, the platform acts as a collaborative technical hub where utilities, universities, training institutes, government bodies, private sector actors, and civil society can jointly analyse problems and co-develop solutions. This consolidates operational competence and ensures that the gains achieved through infrastructure investments and revenue reforms are institutionally sustained.
Data and digitalisation as enablers of stewardship
Reliable asset management depends on knowing what exists, where it is, and in what condition. In Mozambique, VEI supports AIAS (the national Administration for Water and Sanitation Infrastructure) in transitioning to mWater, a digital asset management platform. Due to the wide variety of operators, low levels of digitalisation, and limited GIS capacity, centralized insight into the assets, connections, and operational behaviour of the systems was largely absent until recently.
In 2025, a Proof of Concept was conducted with approximately 230 connections. All main assets and customer connections were registered using GPS, linked to existing data from the Eticadata billing system. Local operators can now collect data autonomously, even offline, while providing national authorities with a consolidated overview of assets, maintenance needs, and operational risks. This data backbone is essential for planning, prioritisation, and transparency. The next step is scaling up to other systems and establishing a small GIS/mWater support unit within AIAS to ensure this is structurally secured.
Engaging communities through locally led approaches
Finally, breaking the BNR cycle requires governance reform that is locally led and socially embedded. In Beira, community-based maintenance activities supported through the Blue Deal enable local residents to take an active role in cleaning and maintaining drainage canals. These efforts reduce flood risks while strengthening local ownership, awareness, and accountability, and providing employment opportunities. Crucially, such locally led interventions connect community action to formal municipal systems, reinforcing the idea that sustainable infrastructure performance depends not only on technical expertise, but on locally anchored stewardship.
Breaking the cycle requires systemic change and changing mindsets
Breaking the BNR cycle is ultimately less about building more infrastructure and more about governing better: securing sustainable finance, managing assets over their full lifetimes, strengthening institutions, and embedding learning and adaptation into everyday practice. This cannot be achieved by any single organisation. Progress emerges when municipalities, national authorities, utilities, communities, and international partners – including Dutch Water Authorities (Blue Deal), VNG International, Partners for Water, VEI and many others – work in alignment, each addressing part of the governance, financial, technical, and social systems that underpin water services.
To enable this shift at scale, the water sector needs systemic change. Politicians and decision-makers must rethink how they talk and act about infrastructure investments, valuing longevity, reliability, and lifecycle performance as much as – or more than – new construction. A functional system that operates reliably for 25 years is a success story.
Achieving this change in narrative requires commitments to securing sustainable financing, clarifying roles and responsibilities, strengthening governance and institutional capacity and embedding knowledge, monitoring, digitalisation, and community participation into daily practice.
When these elements come together, water infrastructure can deliver the long-term value it is designed for – supporting resilient, equitable and sustainable services for generations to come.
This year, Mozambique and the Netherlands mark 50 years of cooperation in water and agriculture – a long-term partnership built on solidarity and shared learning. To reflect on this milestone, Maarten Gischler (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Richard Bahumwire (SDU Beira) and Gerard Vos (FOUNT) share their perspectives on how decades of collaboration have evolved from technical assistance to a partnership for urban climate resilience, and what lies ahead in the decades to come.
It’s 1975. Mozambique has just gained independence. The country faces a collapsed economy and a shortage of skilled professionals. To fill the gap, the government invites foreign experts – known locally as cooperantes – including Dutch engineers specialised in water and irrigation. These Dutch cooperantes help to establish systems that would shape Mozambique’s water management for decades.
Over time, this technical assistance evolved into something much greater: a true partnership.
From technical assistance to partnership
“I think we started from the idea that we knew how everything should be done, because our water infrastructure is so well organised in the Netherlands,” reflects Maarten Gischler, Delta Coordinator at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and long-time advisor to the Dutch water programme in Mozambique. “Over time, we learned to really start listening to what is happening locally, to enable local leadership, and to focus on long-term processes rather than quick results.”
The long-term involvement of Dutch experts fostered deep trust between Mozambican institutions and the Dutch Embassy. What began as sector-wide technical assistance gradually developed into sustainable, integrated water management – where governance, land management and finance all form part of the same equation. Nowhere would this become more evident than in Beira. Here, a 25-year vision for urban resilience would turn lessons into practice.
Beira’s masterplan becomes reality
By the early 2010s, Beira had emerged as a focal point. The city’s port was economically vital, growing 10 to 15 percent annually under a concession to a Dutch port operator since 1997. However, the port city was increasingly threatened by floods and rising sea levels.
Gischler: “When a Dutch mission visited in 2010, the city’s late mayor made a decisive request: ‘It’s great that you’re looking at the port, but half our city is under water time and again. We need a plan for that.’” That call led to the Beira Masterplan 2035, developed with support from Partners for Water and the Dutch Embassy. After being approved in 2014, it became more than a document. “The plan became a living chessboard,” recalls Gischler. “The late mayor laid that map on his table in the city hall, and projects were chess pieces that could move, connect and synergise.”
The results span new infrastructure, improved governance, better service delivery and more financial resources. “Neighbourhoods that once flooded for weeks now see water recede within days,” says Gischler. “The city’s cadastre system was digitalised, enabling property tax collection that grew from €600,000 to €2 million annually. That’s empowering for a city government. Being able to collect your own money and having an accountability relationship with citizens.” But infrastructure alone wasn’t enough to build climate resilience. It also required addressing other long-standing national challenges.
Why financing blocks resilient housing
When Cyclone Idai struck in 2019, followed by Cyclone Eloise in 2021, the storms exposed Beira’s deeper vulnerability. “Seventy percent of houses were damaged,” Gischler recalls. “It showed us that resilience is not just about drainage and dikes, it’s also about the homes people live in.”
One of the root problems for resilient housing? “Financing,” explains Richard Bahumwire, CEO of Sociedade de Desenvolvimento Urbano da Beira (SDU Beira), the municipal land development company. “Across Mozambique’s 34 million people, only about 600 mortgages have ever been issued.” Interest rates hover around 25 percent, and banks consider low-income households too risky. Without access to credit, people build informally – often in unsafe areas. “Self-built homes dominate the landscape,” Bahumwire adds. “They are affordable, yet extremely vulnerable. If roofs keep blowing off, you can’t call a city resilient.”
SDU Beira – a public-private company established in 2018 and fully owned by the Municipality of Beira – was set up to carry out the city’s Masterplan 2035. In response to the cyclones, it shifted its focus toward developing climate-resilient housing. The company started with the preparation of flood-prone land for construction. “Beira is like Rotterdam,” Bahumwire explains. “It lies below sea level. so if you want to build, you first need land that doesn’t flood.”
But how do you build affordable homes when potential buyers can’t access loans? “Local private developer Casa Real became a pioneer in tackling this challenge,” shares Gischler. In partnership with the Municipality of Beira, which secured the land and land titles, Casa Real has built, sold or rented around 150 affordable, climate-resilient homes since 2018 in the Inhamízua neighbourhood. “When Cyclone Idai struck, the first batch of ten houses was put to the test, and all subsequent homes benefited from improved cyclone-resilient design. Casa Real also experimented with different financing models, both for construction and for end-users.”
Maraza: breaking the financing deadlock
This year marked a breakthrough. The first stone was laid in Maraza, an integrated affordable housing project aiming to build 25,000 homes in Beira following the 150 homes in Inhamízua. With support from Partners for Water and the Dutch embassy, three hectares of land were raised by two metres, and essential infrastructure was installed. Casa Real then built eight pilot homes, merging their private-sector experience with the municipality’s public-sector initiative. “It’s just the beginning,” explains Bahumwire. “The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.”
A revolving fund model that scales
“The eight houses prove more than concept – they also demonstrate a new financing model,” explains Gerard Vos from FOUNT, a Dutch impact investment advisory firm that helped to structure the financing. He continues: “Partners for Water provided a grant and loan to SDU Beira, which loaned funds to local developer Casa Real to build the homes. Once residents move in and prove they can pay their monthly instalments, GAPI Bank and the International Labour Organization (ILO) refinance the completed houses through a separate affordable housing facility.”
Residents enter “rent-to-buy” arrangements: monthly instalments at lower interest rates than commercial banks offer, with flexible schedules suited to irregular incomes. “When GAPI and ILO refinance the homes, SDU can reinvest that money in the next batch of houses,” explains Vos. “That’s how you scale.” He adds: “The model reduces risk for developers, makes housing accessible for buyers, and creates a sustainable investment cycle – all without traditional mortgages.”
From pilot to blueprint
“Affordable housing will be a game-changer for Beira,” says Bahumwire. “The city is growing, the port is expanding, industries are coming… people will need safe, affordable homes close to work.” The dream is ambitious: 25,000 homes in Maraza, transforming flood-prone land into safe, vibrant communities. But realising this vision requires proof that the model works at scale. “A track record is vital,” explains Vos. “You need to show investors: we’ve built, we’ve sold, we’ve refinanced. Meanwhile, the project is capturing payment data which is crucial for banks. Do that a few times and larger parties will say: okay, now we’re interested.” Bahumwire adds: “The Ministry has already asked us to present our model, because it is interested in scaling it to other Mozambican cities.”
Climate resilience requires system change
In Beira it became apparent that everything is connected when building a climate-resilient city. As Bahumwire states: “It’s not just about building resilient houses and water infrastructure, it’s about changing the system.”
For the Netherlands, Beira represents a learning laboratory. “What began as technical assistance has become a partnership of equals,” reflects Gischler. “The successes in Beira show that long-term, patient collaboration works.”
Fifty years of partnership have built trust, knowledge and system change. The foundation is laid. The proof of concept is nearing delivery. Now comes the scale-up, showing that climate-resilient cities are not only about infrastructure, but also about system change. And ultimately, about giving people a place to live, thrive and stay safe.
Read more about projects in MozambiqueWhat do you do when a city floods during the monsoon, yet faces water shortages in the dry season? Or when you aim to build resilient infrastructure but are confronted with challenges such as informal settlements? For many cities, climate change is exposing these urban vulnerabilities, particularly in delta and coastal areas. Yet it also presents an opportunity to make cities not only more resilient, but also more liveable. We explored what makes a climate-resilient city, and the experiences of five delta cities on the front line of climate change: Semarang, Thủ Đức, Cartagena, Chennai and Beira.
Climate change poses a direct threat to the wellbeing of billions of urban residents. In all cities, climate-related risks are on the rise. At the same time, urbanisation continues to intensify. By 2050, nearly 70% of the world’s population will live in cities. This growth is putting increased pressure on infrastructure, water, space and public health. Mitigation alone is no longer enough. We must adapt to a climate where extremes are the new normal: too much, too little, or polluted water, as well as heatwaves and droughts.
Without action, damage to urban infrastructure could reach $415 billion per year. The urban poor are hit hardest, often living in high-risk areas without adequate protection. Yet urgency also brings opportunity. By approaching cities as interconnected systems, and working with water and nature, we can build climate-resilient cities that are not only robust, but also greener, healthier and more inclusive.
What is a climate-resilient city?
A climate-resilient city can absorb shocks, adapt to changing conditions, and recover quickly from extreme weather events such as sea level rise, heatwaves, flooding or drought. Resilience goes beyond physical structures – it also applies to institutions, governance systems, and communities. Increasingly, cities are moving from a mindset of control to one of working with change. With smart design, risks can be turned into opportunities: rainwater is captured and reused, urban heat becomes a driver for green and shaded spaces, and nature is integrated as vital infrastructure. Cities that plan ahead and reduce future risks can remain liveable, even under pressure.
Nature-based Solutions and climate-resilient cities
Nature-based solutions (NBS) are approaches to societal challenges that harness natural processes, such as vegetation, soil and water. For cities, they offer an important alternative to traditional ‘grey’ infrastructure such as drainage systems and concrete flood barriers. Because they evolve with changing conditions and deliver multiple benefits simultaneously, NBS are particularly well suited to strengthening urban resilience. Examples include green roofs that reduce heat stress and retain rainwater, or city parks and mangroves that buffer water and slow down flooding. When they are well integrated into urban planning and policy, NBS can create synergy between climate mitigation and adaptation, while also enhancing liveability and biodiversity.
Despite their proven value, NBS are still applied on a relatively limited scale compared to grey infrastructure. Upscaling is essential to ensure cities can withstand increasing pressure from heat, drought and extreme rainfall. Partners for Water works from a systems perspective to maximise the benefits of these solutions, developing sustainable approaches with a strong focus on operation and maintenance.
Five climate-resilient cities around the globe
Semarang
Semarang is a fast-growing coastal city on Java’s north shore that faces some of Indonesia’s most pressing climate challenges. The city’s population has grown from around 1 million to about 1.7 million over the past twenty years. Severe land subsidence – in some areas up to 20 centimetres per year – combined with tidal flooding, flash floods and water scarcity affects residents’ daily lives. Rapid urbanisation and reliance on groundwater extraction further worsen the risks. But the tide is turning: the city aims to become climate-resilient by 2045 through long-term, integrated planning.
To tackle its water challenges, Semarang applies a mix of measures. These include rainwater harvesting in homes and shared spaces to mangrove rehabilitation along the coast, vetiver planting to prevent landslides, and early warning systems for floods and vector-borne diseases. Building on these efforts, the Water as Leverage programme, supported by Partners for Water, pilots integrated, multi-stakeholder solutions that combine NBS with conventional infrastructure and smart data technologies. By bringing together Dutch and Indonesian expertise with strong local involvement, these projects support Semarang towards becoming a climate-resilient city. Read more about Semarang.
Cartagena
Colombia’s historic port city Cartagena is under pressure. The city is growing rapidly but faces rising sea levels, flooding and extreme heat. Most of its one million residents live in low-lying areas, making them especially vulnerable to flooding. By 2050, projections suggest that sea levels around Cartagena – amplified by ongoing land subsidence – could rise by more than 30 centimetres. These predictions put even greater pressure on coastal neighbourhoods. Through the Water as Leverage programme, with support from Partners for Water, residents, local experts and city officials are working together on plans that address both climate risks and socio-economic inequality.
The projects are small in scale but strategically placed, and include water plazas, elevated walkways, mangrove restoration, and improved access to drinking water. This approach integrates all the relevant aspects: design, nature, the social and environmental aspects, as well as the economic and financial ones. By placing local ownership at the heart of the process, the city is building a strong foundation for lasting, inclusive change. Read more about Cartagena.
Thủ Đức City
Thủ Đức City in Vietnam is a city in the making. Today it has just over one million inhabitants, but by 2050 it is expected to grow to around three million residents. Situated between the Saigon and Đồng Nai rivers, the new city is highly exposed to flooding. Extreme rainfall, high river levels, land subsidence and the interaction of these factors make water management a central challenge for its development.
With support from Partners for Water, a blue-green vision has been developed. It combines natural buffers, flood retention zones and smart urban design to better manage excess water. This vision has been translated into spatial plans and policy recommendations focused on working with water, alongside digital systems that support real-time water management. Without adaptation, annual flood-related losses are estimated at nearly USD 67 million and could more than double by the end of the century. By embedding Nature-based Solutions and digital water management systems into its spatial planning, Thủ Đức aims to grow into a resilient metropolis that can withstand both climate pressures and urban pressures. Read more about Thủ Đức City.
Chennai
Chennai is a fast-growing megacity in southern India. It faces a paradox of water extremes: severe flooding during the monsoon followed by extreme drought. Simultaneously, the city is steadily losing its capacity to retain water due to paved-over infrastructure, unregulated urbanisation and polluted waterways. Chennai’s traditional water bodies, known as ‘tanks’, once held around 188 million m³ of water. Urbanisation since the early 1900s has reduced this capacity by about 7%. The remaining 93% is located mostly outside the city and is increasingly threatened by encroachment, pollution and poor maintenance. To reverse this trend, the Water Resources Department aims to triple the city’s storage capacity by 2050.
The City of 1,000 Tanks project, supported by Partners for Water, supports this goal by drawing on the city’s ancient water infrastructure. The project restores these systems and links them to new NBS such as infiltration fields, retention ponds and other green infrastructure. By capturing, filtering and slowly recharging water locally, the project tackles both water scarcity and excess. The approach is modular, scalable and rooted in local collaboration with schools, businesses and communities. Chennai shows that climate adaptation is not only about innovation, but also about reviving and revaluing traditional knowledge. Read more about City of 1000 Tanks.
Beira
Mozambique’s port city of Beira is on the front line of climate change. In 2019, it was devastated by Cyclone Idai, which damaged around 70% of the city’s housing stock. Two years later, Cyclone Eloise in 2021 left another 20,000 homes – roughly 17% – damaged or destroyed. Together, the two storms caused over USD 2.4 billion in losses. But rather than focusing solely on recovery, Beira is pursuing structural transformation. Through the Masterplan 2035, developed with support from Partners for Water, the city is investing in climate-resilient urban development: from improved drainage and wastewater treatment to coastal protection and stronger local governance.
Through public and private partnerships, Beira is building climate-resilient homes with minimal construction costs or rent-to-buy schemes. This makes safe housing accessible to residents for whom home ownership would otherwise be entirely out of reach. Simultaneously, the city is updating its municipal cadastre to improve property registration and enable the collection of property taxes. This is a long-term strategy, focused on system change in order to become a truly climate-resilient city. Read more about Beira’s system change approach.
Seven building blocks for a climate-resilient city
1. Systems thinking and integrated approaches
Climate adaptation only works when water, infrastructure, public health and governance are seen as part of an interconnected system. It must be addressed across all spatial scales, from the pavement to the metropolitan region.
2. Making space for water
When cities actively allocate space for water through buffers, temporary retention zones and natural systems, rainfall becomes a manageable design element. It can even become a resource for future droughts.
3. Flexibility and adaptive capacity
A resilient city is flexible and evolves as the climate and associated risks change. This requires future scenarios, room for experimental development, phased planning, and the ability to adjust course when needed.
4. Monitoring and data analysis
Digital tools and modelling software can help detect risks early and support an effective response. Data collection and management form the foundation for improved policy and governance.
5. Participation and local ownership
Solutions only have lasting impact when they are supported by the local community. Local engagement ensures context-specific solutions and fosters long-term ownership.
6. Collaboration and governance
Coordination between governments, public and private organisations, knowledge institutions and residents are crucial for implementation and lasting impact.
7. Working with nature
By cooperating with the natural processes of vegetation, rivers or mangroves rather than trying to control them, cities can develop sustainable and flexible solutions that support both climate adaptation and urban liveability.
Partners for Water for climate-resilient cities
When we view cities as interconnected systems and choose to work with nature rather than against it, we can build urban environments that are more resilient, greener, and more liveable than ever before.
Partners for Water supports cities around the world in building climate resilience through an integrated, systems-based approach. We promote the use of NBS and advise cities on innovative and sustainable water management. In doing so, we not only address water security, but also biodiversity, food security and healthy living environments.
Our support spans strategic guidance, from policy advice and planning to capacity-building within local governments. We also fund and facilitate pilot and feasibility studies that test scalable, sustainable and innovative water solutions.
Want to learn more about our approach or about how we can support you? Send an email to one of our team members.In 2019, Cyclone Idai destroyed large parts of the Mozambican port city of Beira. Two years later, a second cyclone struck the city. 70% of Beira’s buildings were damaged in these events. Without thoughtful urban management and water management, the city remains vulnerable to flooding and increasingly extreme weather. In order to build resilience, Peter van Tongeren from the Association of Netherlands Municipalities, in collaboration with Partners for Water and the municipality of Beira, has been working on a better functioning land registry. Van Tongeren explains how this is forming the foundation for a climate-resilient city.
“Beira, partly situated below sea level, is administratively an exception within Mozambique,” begins Van Tongeren. While the country has been governed for almost 50 years by the Frelimo party, Beira has been in the hands of the opposition party Movimento Democrático de Moçambique, founded by former mayor David Simango, for 22 years. “This city administration has a strong motivation to demonstrate that democratic governance and transparent service delivery are indeed possible.” Their vision is supported by a long-term delta cooperation with the Dutch government. This cooperation is financed and managed through the Partners for Water (PfW) program and the Dutch embassy and is locally implemented by VNG International and Kadaster International.
The Beira Master Plan 2035: The foundation for climate-resilient water infrastructure
Beira’s vision for the future is laid out in the Beira Master Plan 2035. This plan was developed in collaboration with the Netherlands and former mayor Simango, to make the city climate-resilient and economically robust. It focuses on crucial themes like drainage and water treatment, coastal protection, waste management, urban planning, economic development and improving living conditions for citizens. However, to maintain and further develop the services delivered and the governance of the city, a solid financial and administrative foundation is needed. And all this begins with a properly functioning land registry.
‘Our man in Beira’
A key figure in the long-term collaboration between the Netherlands and Beira is Peter van Tongeren, known as ‘our man in Beira’ among his Dutch colleagues. A professional HR and organisational consultant by training, he came to Mozambique in 2017 via VNG International to strengthen the municipal government. He found a city with great ambitions, but without the essential foundation of a land registry and clear urban planning to convert that potential into sustainable development.
“When I arrived in Beira, the land registry was stored in the basement of the town hall – and that basement regularly flooded,” explains Van Tongeren. “Files were lost or illegible. People received duplicate land licences, which led to conflicts. Without a proper land registry, you cannot properly plan a city, collect taxes, or manage water infrastructure.”
This realisation led to the start of a large-scale digitalisation project, funded by PfW, the Dutch embassy and others. The project was implemented in collaboration with Kadaster International and the municipality of Beira.
Transforming a flooded basement into a digital database
“The project began with the digitalisation of land registration. A team of twenty local staff was trained to scan and register 40,000 plots. A new database was developed in which all land and property data were correctly stored,” explains Van Tongeren.
With an organised land registry, property rights could be better guaranteed, and urban planners could gain an overview of the available space. But perhaps even more importantly, the municipality gained a means to efficiently collect taxes for water management needs.
“The land registry is the foundation,” explains Van Tongeren. “You can only have a well-functioning climate-resilient city if you are able to maintain essential water infrastructure through taxes. Property tax has the biggest potential for own source revenue. However, in order to collect it, you must know who lives where, which buildings exist, and who needs to pay property taxes.”
From land registry project to sustainable water infrastructure
One of Beira’s major problems is the lack of financial resources. The city is largely dependent on contributions from the national government, which are often delayed or sometimes not paid at all.
“By linking the land registry with the tax collection system, the municipality has been able to triple its income from property tax. It increased from €600,000 in 2018 to €1.8 million in 2023,” explains Van Tongeren. “And that’s just the beginning. We expect that this amount will increase further to €10 million per year in the coming years – equal to the current city budget.”
“With this income, Beira can maintain and expand its water infrastructure,” explains Van Tongeren. “That means money for drainage, sewerage, and coastal protection – essential aspects in a city that is so vulnerable to flooding.
Long-term international delta cooperation
The success of the land registry project is no coincidence. It’s the result of years of consistent cooperation between Beira and the Netherlands. In this effort, PfW and the Dutch embassy work with the local government to provide technical solutions, but also to build governance capacity for sustainable water management.
This cooperation has been made possible in part by the long-term vision of Beira’s previous mayor, Daviz Simango. When he came to power in 2003, he found a city in decline: widespread open defecation, poor waste management, cholera outbreaks, and barely functioning services. “Simango had a clear mission to transform Beira into a prosperous, climate-resilient city and saw cooperation with international partners as essential,” explains Van Tongeren. Under his leadership, the Beira Master Plan was established in 2013, and it still serves as a guide for urban development.
“His unexpected death in 2021 had a significant impact,” says Van Tongeren, “but his successor, Mayor Albano Carige, is continuing his work with the same vision.”
Initiating system change for sustainable water management
“What began as a cadastre project developed into true system change. It has now altered many other areas – from urban planning to governance structures – all working together to sustain Beira’s urban development and water infrastructure,” explains Van Tongeren. “New neighbourhoods are designed in advance rather than emerging spontaneously, and there is also a strong connection with water and sanitation management. For example when new homes are built, flood-prone areas are taken into account.” The PfW-funded VNG project also strengthens Beira municipality’s IT capacity, communication skills, leadership skills and donor coordination, all essential to improving and maintaining quality water infrastructure.
Beira as a model for the climate-resilient city
Beira has now become a role model for other Mozambican cities. “During a seminar in December 2024, multiple municipalities showed interest in the digitalisation model,” says Van Tongeren. “There is much admiration for what Beira is doing. Hopefully, this approach will also be applied in other cities.”
Yet there are challenges. Many municipalities are overwhelmed by day-to-day problems, preventing them from developing long-term resilience strategies. But if one thing is clear, it’s that a well-functioning land registry lays a foundation upon which a climate-resilient city can build.
From reconstruction to climate resilience
What began as a collection of wet papers in a flooded basement is now the backbone of Beira, which is rebuilding itself into a prosperous, resilient and climate-proof city. Thanks to the combination of local vision, international delta cooperation and water management cooperation, and a long-term strategy focused on system change, Beira is becoming a truly climate-resilient city with sustainable water infrastructure.
Find out more about PfW’s work in MozambiqueWith the Human series, we showcase the people who are involved in and benefit from the Partners for Water projects. The Human series sheds light on the stories of the people with whom and for whom Partners for Water works, and on how water affects their lives. Below, discover how water shapes the life of Liria Francisco and her neighbours in Beira, a city deeply affected by frequent flooding.
Liria Fransisco
In this Humans of Partners for Water series, meet Liria Francisco from the flood-prone city of Beira, who eagerly anticipates a safer, healthier future as a result of the protective measures planned by Partners for Water.
Raising Awareness in the Community
Liria Francisco lives in Beira, where the Pungwe River meets the Indian Ocean. With over 750,000 residents, it is Mozambique’s fourth-largest city and hosts the Port of Beira, a crucial gateway for the region. However, the city is extremely vulnerable to floods. Francisco has experienced firsthand how floods and high tides threaten her community.
When these events occur, residents must lift up all their belongings and put children on tables for safety. After the water recedes, diseases like diarrhoea, malaria, and fever often follow. This has driven Francisco to raise awareness in her community about the importance of urban development projects
“I tell them that when the dyke is built, we’ll still be here, but we’ll feel safe”.
One of the key initiatives in Beira targets Maraza, a 350-hectare undeveloped swamp area. This pilot project seeks to show that through organized residential expansion, land that is currently uninhabitable due to frequent flooding can be transformed and made available at affordable prices. For the success of the project, it’s crucial that residents recognise how the plans will enhance their lives and health. Advocates like Francisco are pivotal in communicating these benefits to the community
Discover more Humans of Partners for WaterDutch-Mozambique Water Cooperation
In 2025, Mozambique and the Netherlands will celebrate 50 years of bilateral cooperation, a partnership that has focused on water management since Mozambique’s independence in 1975. Over time, this collaboration has expanded to include food security, rule of law, health (including HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health), and social protection. Dutch interests in Mozambique also extend to maritime, transport, food and beverage, and extractive industries.
The partnership is structured through four-year strategies, with the current Multi-Annual Country Strategy (MACS 2023-2026) emphasizing water as a top priority. The focus is on Cabo Delgado in the north and the Beira corridor in the central region, areas highly vulnerable to extreme climate events such as floods, droughts, cyclones, and storm surges. Mozambique is among the top 10 countries most at risk from these natural disasters, highlighting the critical need for this long-term water management partnership. Recent cyclones, including Idai (2019), Eloise (2021), and Freddy (2023), have caused severe damage.
Since the 1970s, many of Mozambique’s water leaders have trained in the Netherlands or through Dutch-funded programmes. Prominent Dutch scholars have also conducted essential research in Mozambique. Dutch water companies have partnered with Mozambique’s national water utility, FIPAG, for over 20 years, helping to professionalize its operations. Additionally, the Netherlands Water Boards have supported their Mozambican counterparts for over a decade.
The Netherlands-Mozambique delta collaboration is a key part of the MACS strategy, guided by two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with Beira. The first MoU, signed in 2015, focuses on implementing the Beira Master Plan 2035, mainly in water and land management. The second, signed in 2018, commits both parties to co-invest in land development in Beira’s Maraza neighbourhood and to strengthen local institutions for cyclone and flood resilience.
Urban Resilience in Beira
The partnership between the Netherlands and Mozambique, which began in 2011 with the Beira Master Plan 2035 (BMP2035), has concentrated on building urban resilience in Beira, as priorities have evolved over the years. The plan aims to strengthen Beira’s defences against the growing threats of climate change, including heavy rainfall, storm surges, and cyclones.
Cyclone Idai’s catastrophic landfall in Beira in 2019, which resulted in USD 357 million in damages and destroyed 70% of the city’s buildings, highlighted the urgent need for these efforts. The Netherlands played a crucial role in coordinating a recovery package that secured USD 250 million for public infrastructure. However, despite these efforts, Beira’s economy remains fragile, with most damage to housing and businesses uninsured.
Dutch involvement in Beira has significantly increased, with funding rising from EUR 300,000 in 2011 to over EUR 3 million by 2021. This support has financed a range of urban development projects, including coastal protection, drainage improvements, and land management
Exploring opportunities in Mozambique?
Are you currently working on water projects in Mozambique or exploring how to do so? Or just curious about participating in the Partners for Water initiatives? Here are ways for you to get involved:
- Apply for our tenders focused on innovative solutions in delta countries like Mozambique.
- Join our annual Mozambique platform meeting or one of the other Partners for Water events.
- Follow us on LinkedIn and subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated.
- Apply for a Partners for Water subsidy.
- Get in touch with our Project Advisor for Mozambique: Jaap Kroon
“I believe that water is the main factor that can affect quality of life and lives within the community.”
In this Humans of Partners for Water series, discover how the FACE Association’s CEO, Hélder Domingos, addresses Mozambique’s water security challenges in partnership with Partners for Water.
Humans of Partners for Water
With the Human series, we showcase the people who are involved in and benefit from the Partners for Water projects. The Human series sheds light on the stories of the people with whom and for whom Partners for Water works, and on how water affects their lives. Discover below how water influences the life of the FACE Association’s CEO, Hélder Domingos, and how he is committed to a water-secure Mozambique.
Dutch – Mozambican water cooperation
Mozambique and the Netherlands will celebrate 50 years of bilateral cooperation in 2025. Throughout this cooperation, the two countries have been working on improving access to WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) services and water management in Mozambique, and plan to continue doing so.
The delta country in southern Africa is vulnerable to extreme climate events, which have manifested in numerous floods, droughts, cyclones, and storm surges over the last decades. To address this, Partners for Water has established a long-term partnership with the municipality of Beira to make the port city more climate resilient. This is done by supporting the development and implementation of the Beira Master Plan (BMP) 2035, initiating and co-financing land development in Beira’s Maraza neighbourhood, facilitating digitalisation and improvement of land registration, donor coordination and strengthening local institutions to enhance cyclone and flood resilience. These activities have been and will continue to be carried out mainly by local institutions, service providers, developers, and NGOs such as the FACE Association. With its capacity-building skills in Water, Sanitation, Solid Waste Management and Environmental Protection and local presence, FACE has contributed to numerous Partners for Water projects in Mozambique.
Hélder
Hélder is co-founder of the FACE Water and Sanitation Association which is a Mozambican non-profit organization located in Beira that contributes to the country’s development by improving living conditions in communities by working with communities.
“In 2000, I had my first encounter with a flood situation. We had one month without electricity and water. This memory has stayed alive in my mind since that day. I believe that water is the main factor that can affect living conditions and lives within the community.”
With his passion for community development and sustainable and integrated solutions with a special focus on vulnerable groups and gender, he has contributed to Mozambique’s water security through advocacy, consultancy, training, and implementing programmes and projects in water, sanitation, hygiene and environmental protection. Discover more about his ‘why’ in the Humans of Partners for Water video below.
The global housing crisis is acute in Beira, Mozambique. Climate-resilient, affordable houses are in short supply due to climate threats, informal incomes, lack of urban planning and limited mortgage support.
The Beira municipality, with support from the Netherlands, addresses this issue through the new Maraza Residential Zone. They aim to make 25,000 homes accessible using pioneering approaches. Partners for Water’s programme advisor, Jaap Kroon and project partner Marie-Odile Zanders, discuss the project’s approach and challenges.
The Mozambican city of Beira is partly below sea level and highly vulnerable to the increasing effects of climate change. In 2019 and 2021, the port city was struck by two cyclones that destroyed more than 70% of the buildings. With assistance from the Partners for Water programme and the Netherlands Embassy, the municipality and the ‘Municipal Recovery and Resilience Plan’ are rebuilding Beira towards a climate-resilient, flood proof city, based on the so called the Beira Masterplan 2035. The new Maraza Residential Zone is an important part of this city-wide development plan.
Marie-Odile Zanders, Director of Property Partnerships & Development at Empowa, Maraza’s home loan provider, has been working closely on this project with a number of partners. Together with Jaap Kroon, Partners for Water’s programme advisor Mozambique, she elaborates on the project’s progress and obstacles.
Housing Crisis
“Like in the rest of Mozambique and wider Africa, affordable housing is scarce in Beira and houses that withstand climate hazards are even scarcer. Obtaining mortgages in Mozambique is challenging and those that are available have interest rates exceeding 20 percent”, says Kroon. Zanders adds: “Many Mozambicans rely on informal and unpredictable incomes. This makes them ineligible for home loans. Today, approximately, only 600 mortgages are in existence throughout all of Mozambique.”
“The alternative for buying a house is to construct one yourself. This takes a long time and often results in homes that are not resilient enough to withstand natural disasters. The housing that will be offered in Maraza will mean that most low to middle income Mozambicans can finally gain access to a climate-resilient home and not have to build themselves,” says Zanders.
25,000 Resilient, Affordable Green Homes
“The idea is to build 25,000 homes in an already allocated, low-lying area of 450 hectares. The land will be raised to prevent flooding and equipped with drainage, sewage and drinking water connections. The houses in the Maraza Residential Zone will be cyclone-resistant and affordable for the residents of Beira,” explains Kroon.
Local and International Partners
Maraza will be developed of by both local and international partners. One of them is the Sociedade de Desenvolvimento Urbano da Beira (SDUB), the organisation responsible for land development. The Partners for Water programme and the Netherlands Embassy in Mozambique have been funding SDUB since 2019. Since 2023, it’s received partial funding from Partners for Water and the Municipality of Beira. In addition to SDUB, the local developer Casa Real and the financial technology provider Empowa are partners in this innovative project.
Proof of Concept¹: Inhamizua District
As a proof of concept, a similar project has been developed by Casa Real and Empowa. They independently built 150 affordable homes on the outskirts of Beira. The homes are made accessible by reducing construction costs for a starter house from US$ 45.000 to just below US$ 10.000 and through a rent-to-buy scheme. Lower income residents can rent the home while saving money to buy it. This allows them to demonstrate, despite their informal incomes, that the scheme has proven to be successfull. Fifteen months into the scheme, one in three tenants has already paid at least 20% of their home’s value. Furthermore, financial flows are handled using blockchain technology. This reduces costs and risk by delivering timely, verified and indisputable data to investors and other relevant stakeholders.
It is critical that new approaches to affordable housing development are explored. Our group of committed and patient partners in Beira are demonstrating that another way of making Africa’s affordable housing market work is possible. Our approach is attuned to the needs of people who live and work informally, while being commercially viable, scaleable and replicable
Start-up challenges in Maraza Residential Zone
Close to 2.5 million euros have been invested in Maraza’s development to prepare 3.5 hectares for construction as a mini-pilot project. The sand has been raised, an access road constructed, drainage and wastewater collection systems installed and plots for apartment blocks of about 400 units are ready. The homes will be sold in a similar manner to the successful Inhamizua project. However, despite the accomplishments of the Inhamizua district, there are several challenges in securing the initial capital needed to build the first apartments.
The Inhamizua project has incurred interesting returns, yet it has been deemed too risky by various potential financiers’ due to Africa’s underdeveloped affordable housing markets, among other factors. “To reduce the risk, Partners for Water offers soft funding of around 20% of the required investment for the first phase, on the condition that another party provides the remainder,” says Kroon. The data and systems used in the Inhamizua project help in further de-risking investments into Maraza’s homes. Zanders adds: “We invite anyone interested in a different approach to affordable housing development to come and learn from us in Beira.”
Next Steps
“Everything and everyone is in place ready to build the houses: the developers, construction workers, materials, plots and the Beira municipality is firmly supporting the development of the Maraza Residential zone. So, once funding is secured, construction will start as soon as possible,” says Kroon. And there is no doubt that the demand exists, as market research in Beira has already identified around 500 families interested and capable of renting or buying homes from the mini-pilot project.
Beira thrilogy
This article is the first of three publications highlighting Partners for Waters work in Beira ahead of the 50th anniversary of bilateral cooperation between The Netherlands and Mozambique.
[1] Impact assessment was undertaken by Mercy Corps Ventures (MCV) during 2023/2024. For more info: MCV’s blog on “The Impact of Climate-Resilient Housing and How Web3 Technology can scale its Development”.
Transboundary river management of nine international rivers, frequent cyclones, a 2,650 km shoreline, the dichotomy of water scarcity and abundance, salinisation of groundwater aquifers, and a lack of proper sanitation delineate the intricate water management challenges in Mozambique
These are compounded by the limited operational capacity and broad mandate of water institutes, financial mismanagement, 70% of the population residing in informal settlements, national conflicts, and reliance on funding and subsidies.
In The Hague, over 40 individuals from public and private organisations, knowledge institutions, and NGOs gathered to discuss the bilateral delta collaboration between the Netherlands and Mozambique, forging new connections and uncovering business opportunities in Mozambique’s water and climate sector.
Jaap Kroon from RVO, a project advisor for the Partners for Water programme remarked, “It’s been a while since our last water sector meeting, and given the turnout, it was time to organise another. I’m happy to see everyone here.”
As the world evolves, so do the challenges
The Netherlands’ enduring cooperation with Mozambique started nearly 50 years ago after the independence of the country. Water has been a main topic of the cooperation. The delta cooperation focuses on the coastal city of Beira and aims to make Beira a climate-resilient city and enhance the well-being of its inhabitants. As the world evolves, so do the challenges. Ivo van Haren from the Dutch Embassy in Maputo shared, “Our current policy, ‘doing what we know best,’ focuses on a smaller area for greater efficiency. We’re targeting water and food security programmes, seeking synergies and collaborating across sectors and with donors to address Mozambique’s complex issues.”
Challenges in Mozambique encompass frequent policy shifts, economic fluctuations, climate change impacts like cyclones and floods, financial mismanagement, and water resource management issues, including transboundary water coordination and infrastructure capacity. Coastal protection and institutional capacity are also significant concerns, alongside the financial sustainability of water and sanitation systems.
Delta cooperation since 2011
Since 2011, the Netherlands has engaged in various projects through the delta cooperation, focusing on water governance, drainage systems, coastal protection, and social inclusion. The impact of climate change, particularly the increased risk of cyclones and the aftermath of cyclone Idai in 2019, has catalysed significant developments.
Real-world impact and co-creation
Maarten Gischler, delta coordinator and senior water advisor at BZ, reflected on the cooperation journey, highlighting the shift from isolated projects to a more integrated approach in Beira, focusing on real-world impacts and co-creation with the local government institutions and communities.
“In the Netherlands, we live in a world of master plans, feasibility studies and projects. People in Beira, especially the poorer people that are inexistent on any map or registered in any administration, live in the real world. A world in which they sleep on the table during territorial rains. During the past thirteen years of the partnership with Mozambique, and specifically with Beira, we have made progress in ensuring that 250,000 individuals will sleep safely during severe weather events. But assembling the puzzle piece by piece with governments, businesses, NGOs, and the local community has refined our approach to working with and for the people of Beira. It’s about co-creating with and for people. Ultimately, our work is about people. And that is something we should remind ourselves of every day.”
It’s about usage, not about quality
The Beira Masterplan, criticised for being more of a “shopping list” than a strategic guide, underscores the need for a coherent strategy that aligns various initiatives. “The shopping list has been on the table for the last 13 years. So it’s not in the quality of the plan, but in the use of the plan that makes it relevant.”
200 million dollars of new water infrastructure
The city of Beira, comparable in size to Rotterdam, faces the challenge of operating and maintaining new water infrastructure worth 200 million dollars in the coming 3 years, with a municipal annual budget of 0.3% of Rotterdam’s annual budget. Community involvement in climate change awareness, maintaining drainage systems, and financial sustainability through improved local revenue generation are crucial in sustainable development of these infrastructures.
Focus points Delta cooperation in Beira
Summarising, the main focus points of the Netherlands-Mozambique cooperation in Beira have been:
- Climate resilience: Enhancing the city’s resilience to climate change, particularly in preparing for and responding to cyclones and flooding.
- Water governance: Improving water management systems, including drainage, to prevent flooding and ensure sustainable water use.
- Social inclusion: Engaging local communities in the maintenance and decision-making processes related to urban infrastructure, ensuring that interventions are inclusive and beneficial to all, especially the marginalised informal sector.
- Nature-based Solutions (NBS): Implementing NBS for coastal protection and urban water management, favouring ecological solutions over traditional concrete barriers.
- Capacity building: Strengthening local institutions and building the capacity of local actors to manage and sustain the implemented projects.
Financial sustainability: Enhancing local revenue generation mechanisms to ensure the sustainability of infrastructure investments and maintenance.
Promising opportunities for future cooperation
Some promising opportunities for future cooperation and business can be found in:
- Integrated planning: Ensuring that all interventions are part of an integrated master plan that is realistic, strategic, and adaptable to changing circumstances. This plan should bridge the gap between formal and informal sectors and consider the city’s overall ecological and socio-economic context.
- Community engagement: Deepening community involvement not just in implementation but also in planning and decision-making processes. This can enhance the sense of ownership and ensure that projects are more attuned to the needs of the residents.
- Monitoring and evaluation: Establishing robust mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the impact of various projects. This can provide valuable feedback, allow for course corrections, and ensure that the initiatives deliver the intended benefits.
- Financial models: Developing innovative financial models that can support the sustainability of infrastructure projects, including exploring public-private partnerships, microfinancing, and other funding mechanisms.
- Knowledge sharing: Facilitating the exchange of knowledge and best practices not only within Mozambique but also with other countries facing similar challenges. This can foster innovation and provide new insights into effective climate resilience strategies.
- Scalability and replication: Ensuring that successful projects are scalable and replicable in other parts of Mozambique and similar contexts, thereby maximising the impact of the cooperation
In the last session ‘round table discussion on opportunities for the Dutch water sector’, many of the participants shared their experiences on several of the issues that were discussed at the Mozambique water sector meeting, mainly on working with local communities and private sector. During lunch many of the discussions continued and information on each other’s activities in Mozambique were shared and opportunities for collaboration were explored.
Contribute with help of the Partners for Water subsidy scheme
Do you want to contribute to a climate resilient and sustainable Mozambique? And do you have an innovative technology, methodology or an innovative prototype in the field of water management? It can be challenging to independently introduce and market innovative water applications abroad. Partners for Water – Innovations for Water Security Foreign Deltas, Delta Cities and River Basins (PVW-IVWW) is a grant scheme that offers participants the opportunity to research the feasibility of their innovative applications abroad as well as to test and modify them.
Interested in the Partners for Water subsidy scheme? You are encouraged to apply from July 2024 to explore funding opportunities.
Africa faces immense water challenges. In the southern region, where the Maputo and Umbuluzi river catchments and delta’s cover parts of Mozambique, Eswatini and South Africa, drought threatens the area’s development.
The ‘Global water availability forecasting service to support water security’ (GLOW)-consortium works to address this problem. To find out how, we spoke to Ralf Linneman, Water Management Advisor at HydroLogic and project manager of GLOW, as part of our ‘Innovation in Progress’-series
Competition for fresh water
‘Drought exacerbates existing challenges in the Southern African region, such as food security and sustainability’, explains Ralf. ‘Population growth, economic development and the deterioration of water quality and availability brought on by climate change all contribute to increased competition for fresh water. But that’s not all. Take cyclone Freddy, for example; in a short amount of time, extreme heavy rains caused devastating flooding. For both the day-to-day and seasonal management of water resources, these issues require up-to-date information on forecasted water availability.’
The GLOW-project was initiated to address this need. Ralf not only acts as project manager; he was also involved in creating the operational system that GLOW uses. ‘The goal of this project is to pilot an operational service that forecasts – availability and demand – water resource information. Focusing on water stored in reservoirs, soils and groundwater bodies, the project spans across an entire cross-border water resources system’, Ralph adds.
Dutch and Southern African expertise brought together
For this project, HydroLogic is working together with FutureWater and Emanti. Ralf explains: ‘HydroLogic specialises in providing decision support services for water managers through HydroNET; an open platform which translates massive amounts of data into useable information for water managers. FutureWater’s area of expertise is evaluation and planning: how do you optimally divide the available water? And Emanti is our local partner who understands all the main social, political, legal and cultural characteristics of users and catchments in Southern Africa.’
Transboundary water security
‘What makes this project unique is using and combining proven techniques to produce operational water availability and demand, up to several months in advance’, Ralf tells us. ‘This will help water managers to make timely decisions. GLOW will also provide this information on a transboundary catchment level. That means water managers from different countries work together to share information and make decisions that are primarily in the interest of the entire catchment – and not just for their own area’, Ralf explains.
‘Different existing models and systems interact with each other. One of the problems we had in this region was a lack of data; it’s hard to build and validate a complex system without it. That’s why we chose to work with techniques that have already been successful elsewhere. We also continuously talk to other HydroNET-users about their experiences such as what were their challenges and how did they resolve them? This way you can come up with a package of well working water management solutions.’
Co-creation with end users
Another way to gather knowledge is by speaking to all of the African parties involved: ‘Like the Joint River Basin Authority in Eswatini, an important stakeholder in this project’, Ralf says. ‘I’ve spent a lot of time talking to the end users – the water managers in the three participating countries. They are the ones making decisions on how to divide the scarce water. I often heard: “I’m missing information on this or on that, can you do something about this?” For me personally, it became my drive to support them in making water management in Southern Africa more sustainable. Understanding their needs and challenges is the starting point in achieving this.’
Pains and gains
Organising workshops is a good way to gain that understanding. Ralf adds: ‘We recently held one in Eswatini to gather regional knowledge. By using the concept of “pains and gains”, we identified the most important stakeholders, placed ourselves in their role and came up with direct solutions that benefit their interests. The fact that the local partners we invited also included their water stakeholder they work with, such as agricultural co-operations and disaster management organisations in the workshop was something I really appreciated. This not only demonstrated their involvement, but it also helped us a great deal to make sure that what we build fits well to the challenges they’re facing.’
Partners for Water is a Dutch government programme enhancing water security internationally in long-term cooperation with local partners and the Dutch water sector. By facilitating strategic planning and support in the early stages of innovation, the programme aims to contribute to systemic change for sustainable water management and infrastructure. This is how we initiate impactful changes for a better living environment.
