Optimising hydropower development and ecosystem services in the Kafue River, Zambia
Ian G. Cowx A E , Alphart Lungu B and Mainza Kalonga C D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Hull International Fisheries Institute, University of Hull, Hull, HU67RX, UK.
B c/o UNDP Zambia, UN House, Alick Nkhata Road, PO Box 31966, Lusaka 10101, Zambia.
C Department of Fisheries, Chilanga near Lusaka, Zambia.
D Present address: PO Box 360130, Kafue, Zambia.
E Corresponding author. Email: i.g.cowx@hull.ac.uk
Marine and Freshwater Research 69(12) 1974-1982 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF18132
Submitted: 30 March 2018 Accepted: 21 July 2018 Published: 24 September 2018
Abstract
Fisheries are an important resource in Zambia, but are experiencing overexploitation and are under increasing pressure from external development activities that are compromising river ecosystem services and functioning. One such system is the Kafue Flats floodplain, which is under threat from hydropower development. This paper reviews the effect of potential hydropower development on the Kafue Flats floodplain and explores mechanisms to optimise the expansion of hydropower while maintaining the ecosystem functioning and services that the floodplain delivers. Since completion of the Kafue Gorge and Itezhi-tezhi dams, seasonal fluctuations in the height and extent of flooding have been suppressed. This situation is likely to get worse with the proposed incorporation of a hydropower scheme into Itezhi-tezhi dam, which will operate under a hydropeaking regime. This will have major ramifications for the fish communities and ecosystem functioning and is likely to result in the demise of the fishery, along with destruction of the wetlands and associated wildlife. To redress the problem, it is recommended that an environmental-flow study is conducted, as initiated by World Wildlife Fund, to protect provision of the existing ecosystem services and optimise hydropower development, thus ensuring sustainability of the aquatic resources of the Kafue Flats for future generations.
Additional keywords: fisheries, floodplain ecology, flow regulation, livelihoods, SDGs, wildlife.
References
Acreman, M. C., Farquharson, F. A. K., McCartney, M. P., Sullivan, C., Campbell, K., Hodgson, N., Morton, J., Smith, D., Birley, M., Knott, D., Lazenby, J., Wingfield, R., and Barbier, E. B. (2000). Managed flood releases from the Itezhi-tezhi Reservoir: summary report. Guidelines for artificial flood releases from reservoirs to restore and maintain downstream wetland ecosystems and their dependent livelihoods: final report to DFID, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, UK.Béné, C., Hersoug, B., and Allison, E. H. (2010). Not by rent alone: analyzing the pro-poor functions of small-scale fisheries in developing countries. Development Policy Review 28, 325–358.
| Not by rent alone: analyzing the pro-poor functions of small-scale fisheries in developing countries.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Béné, C., Arthur, R., Norbury, H., Allison, E. H., Beveridge, M., Bush, S., Campling, L., Leschen, W., Little, D., Squires, D., Thilsted, S. H., Troell, M., and Williams, M. (2016). Contribution of fisheries and aquaculture to food security and poverty reduction: assessing the current evidence. World Development 79, 177–196.
| Contribution of fisheries and aquaculture to food security and poverty reduction: assessing the current evidence.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Central Statistical Office (2011). Preliminary report 2010 census of population and housing. CSO, Lusaka, Zambia.
Central Statistical Office and Department of Fisheries (2007). 2006 fishery frame survey report. CSO, Lusaka, Zambia.
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (2001). Managed flood releases: a working conference on guidelines for managed flood releases and lessons learned from Itezhi-tezhi. Workshop report, Lusaka, Zambia, 13–14 March 2001, CEH, Wallingford, UK.
Chabwela, H. N. (1992) The ecology and resource use of the Bangweulu Basin and the Kafue Flats. In ‘Managing the Wetlands of Kafue Flats and Bangweulu Basin: Proceedings of the WWF–Zambia Wetlands Project Workshop’, 5–7 November 1986, Kafue National Park, Zambia. (Eds R. C. V. Jeffery, H. N. Chabwela, G. Howard, and P. J. Dugan.) pp. 5–18. (IUCN: Lusaka, Zambia.)
Chansa, W., and Kampamba, G. (2010). The population status of the Kafue Lechwe in the Kafue Flats, Zambia. African Journal of Ecology 48, 837–840.
Chapman, D. W., Dudley, R. G., Miller, W. H., and Scully, R. J. (1971). Ecology of fishes in the Kafue River. Technical report 2. The University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA.
Cohen Liechti, T. C., Matos, J. P., Boillat, J.-L., and Schleis, A. J. (2015). Influence of hydropower development on flow regime in the Zambezi River Basin for different scenarios of environmental flows. Water Resources Management 29, 731–747.
| Influence of hydropower development on flow regime in the Zambezi River Basin for different scenarios of environmental flows.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Cowx, I. G., Lungu, A., and Mills, A. (2011) Elaboration of a management plan for the Kafue Flats fishery, Zambia. EU ACPII, CU/PE1/MZ/10/002, ACP Fish II Coordination Unit, Brussels, Belgium.
Deines, A. M., Bee, C. A., Katongo, C., Jensen, R., and Lodge, D. (2013). The potential trade-off between artisanal fisheries production and hydroelectricity generation on the Kafue River, Zambia. Freshwater Biology 58, 640–654.
| The potential trade-off between artisanal fisheries production and hydroelectricity generation on the Kafue River, Zambia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Dudley, R. G., and Scully, R. J. (1980). Changes in experimental gillnet catches from the Kafue Floodplain, Zambia, since construction of the Kafue Gorge Dam. Journal of Fish Biology 16, 521–537.
| Changes in experimental gillnet catches from the Kafue Floodplain, Zambia, since construction of the Kafue Gorge Dam.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Fluet-Chouinard, E., Funge-Smith, S., and McIntyre, P. B. (2018). Global hidden harvest of freshwater fish revealed by household surveys. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 115, 7623–7628.
| Global hidden harvest of freshwater fish revealed by household surveys.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Haller, T., and Chabwela, H. N. (2009). Managing common pool resources in the Kafue Flats, Zambia: from common property to open access and privatisation. Development Southern Africa 26, 555–567.
| Managing common pool resources in the Kafue Flats, Zambia: from common property to open access and privatisation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Haller, T., and Merten, S. (2006). ‘No capital needed!’ De facto open access to common pool resources, poverty and conservation in the Kafue Flats, Zambia. Policy Matters 14, 103–113.
Kalumba, M., and Nyirendab, E. (2017). River flow availability for environmental flow allocation downstream of hydropower facilities in the Kafue Basin of Zambia. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth Parts A/B/C 102, 21–30.
| River flow availability for environmental flow allocation downstream of hydropower facilities in the Kafue Basin of Zambia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Kissling, E., Alison, E. H., Seeley, J. A., Russell, S., Bachmann, M., Musgrave, S. D., and Heck, S. (2005). Fisherfolk are among those most at risk to HIV: a cross-country comparison of estimated prevalence and numbers infected among groups at risk. AIDS (London, England) 19, 1939–1946.
| Fisherfolk are among those most at risk to HIV: a cross-country comparison of estimated prevalence and numbers infected among groups at risk.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Knapp, M. (1994). Status of fish stocks and fisheries of thirteen medium-sized African reservoirs. CIFA Technical Paper 26. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy.
Lynch, A. J., Cowx, I. G., Fluet-Chouinard, E., Glaser, S. M., Phang, S. C., Beard, T. D., Bower, S. D., Brooks, J. L., Bunnell, D. B., Claussen, J. E., Cooke, S. J., Kao, Y.-C., Lorenzen, K. L., Myers, B. J. E., Reid, A. J., Taylor, J. J., and Youn, S. (2017). Inland fisheries: invisible but integral to the UN sustainable development agenda for ending poverty by 2030. Global Environmental Change 47, 167–173.
| Inland fisheries: invisible but integral to the UN sustainable development agenda for ending poverty by 2030.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Merten, S., and Haller, T. (2007). Culture, changing livelihoods, and HIV/AIDS discourse: reframing the institutionalization of fish-for-sex exchange in the Zambian Kafue Flats. Culture, Health & Sexuality 9, 69–83.
| Culture, changing livelihoods, and HIV/AIDS discourse: reframing the institutionalization of fish-for-sex exchange in the Zambian Kafue Flats.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Mumba, M., and Thompson, J. R. (2005). Hydrological and ecological impacts of dams on the Kafue Flats floodplain system, southern Zambia. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 30, 442e447.
Musumali, M. M., Heck, S., Husken, S. M. C., and Wishart, M. (2009). Fisheries in Zambia: an undervalued contributor to poverty reduction. Policy brief 1913, WorldFish Center and The World Bank, Lusaka, Zambia.
Nkhata, B., and Breen, C. M. (2010). Performance of community-based natural resource governance for the Kafue Flats (Zambia). Environmental Conservation 37, 296–302.
| Performance of community-based natural resource governance for the Kafue Flats (Zambia).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Nyimbili, B. (2006). An evaluation in fish population changes in the Kafue Flats floodplain of Zambia, Zambia. M.Sc. Thesis, University of Bergen, Norway.
Schelle, P., and Pittock, J. (2005). Restoring the Kafue Flats: a partnership approach to environmental flows in Zambia, Dams Initiative. Global Freshwater Programme WWF International Panda House, Weyside Park, Godalming, UK.
Schwanck, E. J. (1995). The introduced Oreochromis niloticus is spreading on the Kafue floodplain, Zambia. Hydrobiologia 315, 143–147.
| The introduced Oreochromis niloticus is spreading on the Kafue floodplain, Zambia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Seyam, I. M., Hoekstra, A. Y., Ngabirano, G. S., and Savenije, H. H. G. (2001). The value of freshwater wetlands in the Zambezi basin. In ‘Globalization and Water Resources Management: the Changing Value of Water Research Report Series number 7. (IHE: Delft, Netherlands.)
Shanungu, G. K. (2009). Management of the invasive Mimosa pigra L. in Lochinvar National Park, Zambia. Biodiversity (Ottawa) 10, 56–60.
| Management of the invasive Mimosa pigra L. in Lochinvar National Park, Zambia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Shanungu, G. K., Kaumba, C. H., and Beilfuss, R. (2015). ‘Current Population Status and Distribution of Large Herbivores and Floodplain Birds of the Kafue Flats Wetlands, Zambia: Results of the 2015 Wet Season Aerial Survey.’ (Zambia Wildlife Authority: Chilanga, Zambia.)
World Fish Centre (2004). ‘Proceedings of the International Workshop on the Fisheries of the Zambezi Basin.’ Report for Workshop, Livingstone, Zambia, 31 May–2 June 2004. (Worldfish: Lusaka, Zambia.)
World Wildlife Fund (2004). Study report on the role of the Kafue Flats fishery in sustaining the socio-economic livelihoods of the local communities. Kafue River Basin Dialogue on Water, Food and Environment Project. WWF Zambia–University of Zambia (UNZA), Lusaka, Zambia.
World Wildlife Fund (2006). Zambia: Kafue Flats. (WWF.) Available at http://wwf.panda.org/our_work/water/rivers/irbm/cases/kafue_river_case_study/ [Verified 18 August 2018].
