6. Conclusions

This chapter summarizes the main messages of the book, as well as discusses the challenges for future research and practice to contribute to achieving water security and to implementing adaptive management in the urban water sector. Briefly, the first main message is that achieving urban water security through adaptive watershed planning and management, in Sub-Saharan Africa context, is a complex issue. Thus, an intuitive and flexible conceptual framework of the urban water sector from an ecosystem services perspective was proposed. It provides an overview of the main challenges and trends that characterize the sector, highlighting the specificities of the Sub-Saharan context, setting the background for further analysis. Second, if properly designed, Watershed Investments can become an important financial and governance mechanism to promote the implementation of adaptive watershed management to achieve urban water security. Third, a good case study application, even if only based on desk research, can serve to inspire stakeholder and possibly prepare the ground for real-life implementation of science-informed measures to promote urban water security alongside other social goals, coordinating ongoing watershed initiatives.