Water Resource Management and Development in SADC – PERISA Case Study 1 on Public Goods

Water resources are a critical enabler of development in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). In most member states, rainfall is strongly seasonal and variable. This means that rain-fed agricultures (and the economies that they underpin) are vulnerable to drought. Storage and transmission infrastructure is required to support water supplies to irrigated agriculture, for urban and industrial use as well as for the generation of hydropower. Also, the climatic variability increases the vulnerability of the region to floods.