Watershed Management Approach, A Good Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Practice in Eastern Africa

The information and examples of good climate adaptation and mitigation practice in this report is a product from the workshop, documentation of good practices, publication review, consultations with practitioners in the fields of watershed management, agriculture, and food security in the subregion.

Africa is one of the regions that are most vulnerable to climate change. It can impact their food security and agriculture sector which the area is most reliant upon for food and work. 

Adapting to climate change is in the regions’ best interest as it can improve land and water management. They can do this within the framework of the watershed management approach.

The report states that “there are compelling reasons for systematically integrating climate change adaptation and mitigation into the watershed management approach.” 

It cites the following reasons: it can provide environmental benefits, resilience, food security, and reduction of poverty, efficient use of resources, help communities to adapt to climate change, etc.

You can read in the report the following:

• A discussion on the background of and context in Eastern Africa particularly their farming practices, vulnerability to extreme weather events, their women’s reliance on agriculture, and how a right watershed management approach can significantly improve their situation.
• FAO’s watershed management approach and how it provides the framework for integrating different land-use and livelihood systems.
• The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) and how proper watershed management can addressed these goals.
• Integration of climate change and mitigation into a watershed management approach.
• Illustrations of good and promising watershed management practise that integrates climate change in Djibouti (water table recharging using small dams), Ethiopia (climate-smart initiative: area closure to prevent further ecosystems degradation), Rwanda (the land-husbandry approach), and Uganda (Institutional reforms for catchment-based integrated water resources management) and its impacts on food security.

The watershed approach can contribute to climate adaptation and mitigation.