Urban NEXUS Case Story: The Integrated Water Harvesting Project for Food Security and Income Generation

Residents of South Africa’s Ehlanzeni district struggle with high levels of poverty, livelihood insecurity, and strained water resources. With water identified as a major limiting factor on agricultural livelihoods and food production in the region, the multi-stakeholder Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) project was formed by community members, research institutions, and local NGOs and civil society to help tackle the problem. IWRM works to build rainwater harvesting infrastructure, expand community capacity, and empower women and youth by involving them in the program.

The Urban NEXUS project 2013-2014 was funded by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). ICLEI, as implementing partner of the Urban NEXUS project, is responsible for the content of this case story.