Zambezi River Basin

Many crops are grown in the Zambezi basin, including wheat, maize, sunflower, sugar cane, soya beans and other vegetables.

Mining

Mining activities are extensive in the Zambezi

basin. Sub-basins such as the Luangwa River,

Lake Kariba, and the Kafue and Kabompo Rivers

have high concentrations of mining operations,

contributing to water pollution in the Zambezi

River (SADC and ZRA 2007). All the streams that

drain mining areas in the Copperbelt region

release waste into Kafue River or its tributary,

the Kafubu River. These are the main sources

of drinking water for most of the towns in the

Copperbelt. Mining operations contribute

to serious environmental problems such as

water pollution caused by acid mine drainage,

cyanide spills in gold mining and heavy metal

contamination (Chenje 2000).

Agriculture

Agriculture plays an important role in sustaining

economic development in most of the basin

countries. Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi

together have 86 per cent of the estimated

5.2 million hectares of the land area cultivated

annually in the basin (SADC and ZRA 2007). Use

of fertilizers and agrochemicals in the basin

contributes to the eutrophication of floodplain

water bodies, especially abandoned channels,

oxbow meanders, and shallow marshes.

Water quality in the basin is also affected by soil

erosion. For example, farming in the Sanyati

catchment area of Zimbabwe, generates

pollution through leaching of nutrients from the

fields (SADC and ZRA 2007).

Gold, copper, tin and coal are some of the minerals

found in the Zambezi basin.