The status of agricultural water use, access, and productivity in the Limpopo Basin — opportunities for poverty alleviation

This report examines the challenges of agricultural water use and productivity in the Limpopo River Basin, highlighting the vulnerability of small-scale farmers to rainfall variability and proposing policy improvements for water management and land tenure across the basin's four countries.

• The Limpopo River Basin supports 14 million people, with at least half residing in rural areas. This includes approximately 10 million people in South Africa (nearly 25% of its national population) and one million people in Botswana (nearly 60% of its national population), as well as populations in Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
• Farmers relying on rain-fed agriculture in the Limpopo region are vulnerable due to high rainfall variability both within and between years. While storage and water-saving technologies can mitigate these weather-related shocks, resource-poor small-scale farmers often lack the means to invest in them, perceiving such investments as risky.
• To improve natural resource management in the four basin countries, the report identifies four priority areas: increasing the capacity of the Limpopo River Basin Commission (LIMCOM) for planning and monitoring; establishing secure land tenure and water rights for rural populations; pricing and prioritizing water for small-holders; and planning for water development based on future precipitation scenarios that may deviate from historical records.

APA

Climate and Development Knowledge Network (2015). The status of agricultural water use, access, and productivity in the Limpopo Basin — opportunities for poverty alleviation. https://cdkn.org/resource/the-status-of-agricultural-water-use-access-and-productivity-in-the-limpopo-basin-opportunities-for-poverty-alleviation

Chicago

Climate and Development Knowledge Network. The status of agricultural water use, access, and productivity in the Limpopo Basin — opportunities for poverty alleviation. 2015. https://cdkn.org/resource/the-status-of-agricultural-water-use-access-and-productivity-in-the-limpopo-basin-opportunities-for-poverty-alleviation.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |title=The status of agricultural water use, access, and productivity in the Limpopo Basin — opportunities for poverty alleviation |date=30 January 2015 |url=https://cdkn.org/resource/the-status-of-agricultural-water-use-access-and-productivity-in-the-limpopo-basin-opportunities-for-poverty-alleviation |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateanddevelopmentknowledgenetwork2015status, author = {{Climate and Development Knowledge Network}}, title = {{The status of agricultural water use, access, and productivity in the Limpopo Basin — opportunities for poverty alleviation}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2015}, month = jan, url = {https://cdkn.org/resource/the-status-of-agricultural-water-use-access-and-productivity-in-the-limpopo-basin-opportunities-for-poverty-alleviation}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }