Measures to provide for tradable water rights in Zambia

There is a fast growing water scarcity problem in Zambia. This problem is already making itself manifest by a lack of agricultural expansion in the more productive areas of Zambia due to the unavailability of water. The Kaleya River catchment, as an example, has a long history of conflicts resulting from water rights. Bearing in mind that Government currently lacks adequate financial resources to develop water for its water dependant sectors, other initiatives are needed to help solve this problem. The use of the private sector and the promotion of water use activities that can yield the highest returns is one such initiative. One way of bringing the private sector into play is by promoting the trading of water rights. It is therefore now time that the Water Act be appropriately understood, further developed and applied to facilitate the trading of water rights in key areas of Zambia where water availability is a major bottleneck to development