USAID/Southern Africa signed a new $10.7 million cooperative agreement with the Association for Water and Rural Development (AWARD) to increase resiliency in the Olifants Catchment in the Limpopo River Basin.

Part of USAID’s larger Resilience in the Limpopo River Basin (RESILIM) program, RESILIM-Olifants complements broader, basin-wide work implemented by Chemonics International through a $14.6 million contract awarded in June.

The Limpopo River Basin, shared by Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique, has a total catchment area of approximately 408,000 km². The new agreement will work in the Olifants Catchment, which stretches from South Africa to Mozambique.

The Olifants is the largest contributor to water flows in the Limpopo and is home to significant protected areas, including Kruger National Park.

AWARD, a South African organization based in Acornhoek, will work with a consortium of partners in South Africa and Mozambique to improve transboundary governance and management of the Olifants Catchment of the Limpopo Basin.

The project will build resiliency of the catchment’s people and ecosystems to environmental change through systemic and participatory approaches.