Digital Innovations for Water Secure Africa (DIWASA)

water security

About the Project

The International Water Management Institute’s (IWMI) Digital Innovations for a Water Secure Africa (DIWASA) project is set to enter its second phase with a grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.

While Africa has significant but underutilized water resources, the lack of water infrastructure and good water governance, combined with poor water resources management practices, are causing water insecurity in most of sub-Saharan Africa. With the number of Africans facing water scarcity expected to exceed two billion by 2050, the continent needs multi-scale and locally relevant water resource management interventions.

DIWASA focuses on water accounting and water resilience, providing information products to support the management of flood and drought risk. This work will now scale up. Water data availability will be expanded in Africa in the four priority countries of Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Zambia. The project will focus on closer end-user collaboration with a key focus on targeted user engagement through product co-design sessions, training and fostering of continent-wide user communities.

Announcing the award in January 2024, IWMI Director General Mark Smith said DIWASA would build on the successful implementation of its first phase.

“This new round of funding will be vital in helping us to further develop the role IWMI plays in using digital innovation to support improved water security across Africa,” said Smith.

The project aims to enhance water security across scales in Africa through improved water data availability, accessibility, and institutional capacity and to leverage on innovative digital techniques for sustainable water resources management. It is structured as four pillars with user engagement and capacity development (Pillar 2) taking the bulk of the project budget.