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The Department of Water and Sanitation, said on Tuesday, 21 November 2017, that the interdependence between Water, Energy and Food was critical to strengthen efforts to achieve the South African Development Community’s (SADC’S) goals of industrialisation and poverty eradication.

Opening the 8th SADC Multi-Stakeholder Water Dialogue held at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg, DWS’s International Water Support Deputy Director General, Ms Lindiwe Lusenga, said the collaboration between three sectors offered the opportunity to tackle the region’s developmental Agenda.

The Dialogue provides a platform for water, energy, food and economic and gender policymakers to practitioners to develop strategies to ensure that nexus approaches contribute to fostering regional value chains and job creation.

Ms Lusenga said the interdependence between the sectors would lead to the achievement of SADC’s goals of peace, stability, regional integration, industrialisation and poverty eradication.

She said: “The South African government views the three sectors as the backbone of the livelihood of our people at all levels and for socio-economic development of our country,” adding that it was important that proper planning of the development , utilisation and management of these resources was prioritised and done in an integrated manner.

Lusenga said was needed to for an array of things, including tourism, energy generation, irrigation, maintaining of the ecosystem’s integrity and mining activities.

“To supply water to various needs, energy is key. To attain food security, water is required through irrigation, stock watering and agro-processing,” Ms Lusenga said

Ms Lunsenga told delegates that it was important that the dialogue benefited women, the youth and ordinary people by encouraging the industrial partners to be part of the water sector value chain.

Issued by Department of Water and Sanitation