The project was commissioned within the context of the programme on "Transboundary Water Management in SADC" and acted as a catalyst for replication and scaling-up approaches to improve water resources development and management at national and river basin levels. It was implemented within the Limpopo and Orange-Senqu river basins and supported the sustainable development of small-scale water infrastructures at the community level on the basis of sound water governance and efficient water management. Through the adoption of a practical approach of "learning by doing" the capacities of local communities to apply integrated water resources management were to be strengthened. The community sub-projects were designed to directly improve livelihoods and focused on initiatives such as water supply, water sanitation and hygiene, water storage, disaster risks reduction, and small scale irrigation, among others.

The specific objectives of this project were as follows:

• To test at the local level the ntegrated water resources management approach promoted by SADC and the cimate change adaptation strategy for the water sector.
• To capture best practices and lessons learned from demonstration activities concerning implementation of integrated water resources management at the community level.
• To share with stakeholders at all levels the results of the lessons learned and best practices captured during the implementation of the pilots.
• To support the replication and institutionalization of integrated water resources management initiatives at the national and regional levels.

Local pilot sub-projects were implemented in five riparian countries, namely: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho and Mozambique.