Climate change and variability is projected to cause significant impact on current water storage, water supply and sanitation, irrigation and energy access. Climate change isalready constraining economic development and reversing years of economic gain in the watercourse, which has been categorised as exhibiting the “worst” potential effects of climate change among 11 major African watercourses, as confirmed by the Sixth Assessment Report of theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released in2021. Zambia’s Climate-Smart Agriculture Investment Planreports that between 2007 and 2016, climate change costthe country an estimated 0.4 percent, or US$13.8 billion inannual GDP growth. The Plan notes that agricultural losses related to climate change are expected to reach between US$2.2 and US$3.1 billion over the next 10–20 years, largely due to waterlogging of fields, water shortage, destruction of crops, and a higher incidence of crop and livestock diseases.
