The Groundwater for aDvancing Resilience in Africa (G4DR) project (GEF ID 10970) aims to enhance water security and resilience in Africa by unlocking the potential of groundwater. The project is financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO), and executed by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in partnership with the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the Southern Africa Development Community – Groundwater Management Institute (SADC-GMI). Project activities are divided into five components:
- Strategic Planning: Supporting AMCOW, through their Pan-African Groundwater Program (APAGroP).
- Evidence and Capacity for G4DR in Africa: Identifying aquifers that present risks and opportunities to water security and resilience, informing strategic planning and investments.
- Demonstrating benefit: Utilizing evidence-based planning to realize on-the-ground impacts in pilots.
- Incorporating G4DR into pan-African Youth Forums: Enhancing the beyond-project capacity, outreach, networking, and uptake of long-term workable and sustainable strategies and solutions.
- Supporting Knowledge Management and M&E: Supporting capture, exchange and dissemination of key project advancements, as well as evaluation of project progress relative to targets.
The project operates at multiple scales, from continental level through partnership with AMCOW to regional level in partnership with regional centers of excellence, to basin/aquifer level in collaboration with River Basin Organizations and country ministries. On-ground benefits of integrating groundwater into water resources planning will be realized in three specific case studies through a set of activities focused on groundwater monitoring, water quality analysis, data sharing, well rehabilitation and in cases borehole drilling. These three case studies are the Mono Basin of West Africa, the Upper Nile Water Management Zone (UNWMZ) of Uganda in East Africa, and the Shire Basin Aquifer of southern Africa.
