Zambezi River Basin

1 THE ZAMBEZI RIVER BASIN

The Zambezi River Basin drains parts of eight countries and is the most shared river system in southern Africa. The river basin is shared by Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Zambezi River and its dense network of tributaries discharge an average of 2 600 cubic metres per second (m 3 /s) of water, a rate in the same range as the Nile (2 830 m 3 /s) and the Rhine (2 200 m 3 /s) (Beck and Bernauer 2010). The basin has abundant water, fertile land and soils for agriculture and diverse habitats that are home to large populations of wildlife. This natural capital defines the basin’s economic activities which include agriculture, forestry, manufacturing, mining, conservation and tourism. The basin is also a centre for scientific monitoring and research.

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