The Limpopo River Basin traverses South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, supporting 18 million people who rely on its waters for domestic use, agriculture, industry, and ecosystems. The basin faces increasing pressures from overuse, pollution, drought and flooding. Coordinating water management across four national jurisdictions is complex, requiring near real-time data, shared forecasting tools and an inclusive platform for decision-making
IWMI, in partnership with the Limpopo Watercourse Commission (LIMCOM), developed the Limpopo River Basin Digital Twin to enable science-based, transboundary decision making in the basin.
The system integrates 3D modelling, near-realtime monitoring, seasonal forecasting, scenario modelling and interactive visualizations allowing water managers to easily query and act on complex real-time data and forecasting thanks to a complete virtual representation of the basin supported by an AI Water Agent democratising information for all people of different backgrounds and disciplines.
The Limpopo Water Commission (LIMCOM).
The Limpopo River Basin Digital Twin was co-designed with end-users from LIMCOM.
It is designed for water managers and other decision-makers to easily access, understand and act on science-based insights.
The Limpopo River Basin covers a vast area, with uneven monitoring capabilities among its four neighbouring countries.
To close data gaps and meet the needs of end-users, IWMI and partners adopted a radically innovative approach, combining modelling, remote sensing, machine learning and citizen science.
The Limpopo River Basin programme is implemented with funding from CGIAR under the Accelerator on Digital Transformation, the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, UNDP through the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Belgian agency for international cooperation Enabel, and Microsoft Corporation.
