INCATEMA to develop an Early Warning System for Flooding and Storms in Cuvelai (Angola) to combat the effects of climate change

28 June, 2021

Incatema Consulting & Engineering will map the vulnerability of the population in Angola’s Cuvelai basin for dealing with the effects of climate disruptions, under the contract signed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Angola’s Ministry of Culture, Tourism and the Environment, for Climate-Resilient Development and Enhanced Adaptive Capacity for Disaster Risk in Angola’s Cuvelai Basin.

The contract’s objective is to develop and install a Flooding and Storms Early Warning System in the Cuvelai municipalities of Evale, Mupa, Ondjiva and Namacunde. This monitoring network is intended to control and anticipate flooding of the basin, for preparation and damage mitigation purposes.

The Cuvelai river basin, in the country’s southeast, is a system of drainage with canals that join and separate throughout the course of the river. This basin is situated predominantly in the province of Cunene and borders with Namibia to the south.

The heavy floods brought about by climate change compromise food security in the region.

“This part of the country is highly vulnerable to climate events such as droughts or heavy flooding, which tend to alternate from one year to the next” points out Ana Romero, Incatema Consulting & Engineering’s Director of Consulting. With the heavy rains, the basin floods, and the drainage system overflows. Heavy floods are difficult to control and year after year provoke loss of human lives, destruction of homes and infrastructure, death of livestock and loss of crops. All of this results in the impoverishment and food insecurity of families who subsist from farming and cattle-farming.

Moreover, flooding of this basin not only affects Angola, but also its neighbour, Namibia, where close to half the population (one million people) reside in the basin area.

Given the extent and severity of the effects of climate change in Angola, the authorities have started to seek solutions. The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and the Environment, with funding from the Global Environmental Fund (GEF) and support from the UNDP has put several initiatives in place, including this project in particular.

The project will have the support of Angolan institutions such as the National Institute of Water Resources (INARH), the National Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics (INAMET) or the Ministries of Energy and Water (MINEA) or of Telecommunications and Information Technology (MINTTI).

Works began in March 2021 and are scheduled to take 4 months.