Technical assistance on resources mobilisation for integrated water catchment management and landscape protection in Zambia

The Integrated Water Catchment Management and Landscape Protection (AWARE 2.0) project is co-financed by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by GIZ. It is part of the broader Green Partnership and Investment Programme under the GREEN NEXUS initiative, which promotes sustainable development and green recovery across the Zambian part of the Greater Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) Trans-Frontier Conservation Area (TFCA). The project covers a diverse ecological landscape from the Greater Kafue ecosystem in the southwest to the Luangwa-Nyika corridors in central and eastern Zambia. AWARE 2.0 aims to improve integrated water catchment management and landscape protection, with a focus on agriculture, forestry, biodiversity, water, and climate. In Zambia, its lead government partners are the Ministry of Water Development and Sanitation (MWDS), the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment (MGEE), and the Water Resources Management Authority (WARMA). The project works at both national and sub-national levels, with a geographic focus on the Lower Kafue Sub-Catchment (LKSC). It addresses four key outputs: (1) Improved capacities of the central government to execute its mandate for the integrated management of water catchments, including landscape protection with a focus on climate adaptation; (2) Improved capacities of decentralised authorities to plan, protect and sustainably manage water catchment ecosystems with focus on climate adaptation in the selected landscape; (3) Improved capacities of Water Resources Management (WRM) governance structures to sustainably manage water resource disputes in the LKSC; and (4) Scaled-up measures for water catchment management, landscape restoration and protection and climate adaptation Despite growing environmental challenges, IWCM and landscape restoration in Zambia remain severely underfunded. Key barriers include limited economic data on the benefits of restoration, fragmented resource mobilization efforts, and minimal private sector engagement beyond CSR. In response, AWARE 2.0 is supporting a set of interlinked activities to enable sustainable resource mobilization for restoration in the LKSC and beyond. To this end, AWARE 2.0 seeks consultancy support in three critical areas: (1) conducting an economic modelling analysis to quantify the benefits of watershed restoration and NbS interventions, particularly to inform the Ministry of Finance and National Planning; (2) supporting the development and validation of an implementation-oriented financing strategy for IWCM and landscape protection; and (3) facilitating multi-stakeholder partnerships to mobilize long-term investments.