A shared vision to improve flood resilience in Mozambique

In an effort to recover and learn from the impacts of cyclone Freddy, which 2023 devastated  Mozambique in February and March, the country’s authorities requested technical assistance from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Surge Support (DRRS) programme, which assembled a team led by IHE Delft Associate Professor Fredrik Huthoff.

Their findings have now been published in a report.

The cyclone displaced thousands of people and destroyed critical infrastructure, including homes, roads and water supply systems. It ruined crops, worsening  Mozambique’s food insecurity crisis and caused a cholera outbreak. Huthoff said the DRRS team, which included flood risk experts and spatial planners who worked together with local stakeholders, focused on long-term resilience. 

“Mozambique, including Zambézia province, has faced multiple devastating events like these in recent years, and there will surely be more to come. Besides fixing what was damaged and helping those that have been affected, much more attention is needed to reduce vulnerabilities and to create conditions that help quicker recovery,” he said.

“We can help in making the right choices by highlighting the key physical processes that act – and interact – at various scales and connecting these to impacts, perspectives and potential effective and sustainable actions.”

In a new approach, the DRRS team and local representatives from national, provincial and local level created a shared vision titled ‘Zamvisão’ to improve flood resilience during a 3-day workshop.

“The real-time visualization during the workshop of the water challenges and the potential solutions by the landscape architects stimulated involvement of all stakeholders and active sharing of knowledge,” said Jaap Kroon of Partners for Water at Netherlands Enterprise Agency. 

inclusive integrated approach to place short, medium and long-term prevention and mitigation measures in a spatial context, and in relation to other projects or activities in the region.

“This participatory approach helped in creating understanding and stimulating collaboration between different stakeholders. This groundwork is needed to achieve real and lasting impact in improving flood resilience,” said Huthoff.

The outcomes of the workshop are now available in this report, which last week was officially presented to the participating authorities in Mozambique. 

Manuel A. Alculete Lopes de Araújo, the mayor of Quelimane, a coastal city that suffered major cyclone damages, welcomed the effort: “

In our city we live with the sea and the rivers, and our lives depend on them. They are our partners,” he said. “We have to work with them and make them part of our plans for the future. This is an important step to help that goal.”

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