Climate change is increasingly reshaping Africa’s freshwater systems, with rivers and lakes under growing pressure from rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, prolonged droughts and extreme flooding. Across the continent, communities that depend on these water bodies for drinking water, agriculture, fishing and energy are already feeling the effects, from shrinking water levels in major lakes to unpredictable river flows that threaten food security and livelihoods.

Organisations such as the African Rivers Initiative are working to better understand these changes and support more sustainable management of Africa’s freshwater ecosystems in the face of a rapidly changing climate. 

To help unpack what is happening and what it means for the future, Mpho Sithole spoke to Dr Kelvin Kamayoyo, Technical Advisor to the African Rivers Initiative.