Digital Twin (DT) technology has emerged as a transformative tool in urban flood risk management (UFRM), enabling real-time data integration, predictive modeling, and decision support. This systematic review synthesizes existing literature to evaluate the scientific impact, technological advancements, and practical applications of DTs in UFRM. Using the PRISMA 2020 framework, we retrieved 1085 records (Scopus = 85; Web of Science = 1000), merged and deduplicated them using DOI and fuzzy-matched titles, screened titles/abstracts, and assessed full texts. This process yielded 85 unique peer-reviewed studies published between 2018 and 2025. Key findings highlight the role of remote sensing (e.g., satellite imagery, IoT sensors) in enhancing DT accuracy, the integration of machine learning for predictive analytics, and case studies demonstrating reduced flood response times by up to 40%. Challenges such as data interoperability and computational demands are discussed, alongside future directions for scalable, AI-driven DT frameworks. This review identifies key technical and governance challenges while recommending the development of modular, AI-driven DT frameworks, particularly tailored for resource-constrained regions.

This article explores the escalating impact of natural disasters, particularly droughts, in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), with a specific focus on Eswatini. Over the last century, approximately 63 million people in SADC countries have been affected by droughts, leading to challenges in agriculture, livestock losses, and severe food and water shortages. Despite being the smallest SADC nation, the Kingdom of Eswatini faces disproportionate consequences due to its susceptibility to climate variability, particularly drought. The inadequacy and unreliability of rainfall have resulted in a drastic reduction in food production, with maize, a staple crop, experiencing a 70% decline. This adverse trend, spanning three decades, has heightened the vulnerability of farmers to climatic shocks, hindering sustainable agricultural development and impeding poverty alleviation efforts. To address the growing threat of drought in the kingdom, a comprehensive approach is imperative, involving coordinated plans and the development of swift humanitarian relief strategies. This study utilized remote sensing technologies to monitor drought and assess its repercussions, evaluating the impact on agricultural production. Additionally, geospatial tools, including Open Route Service (ORS) and Near Neighbor Analysis algorithms, were employed to optimize humanitarian supply chain logistics. Results from the analysis, including Vegetation Health Index (VHI) fluctuations and drought severity mapping, reveal that 1990 was the year the kingdom was most severely hit by drought. This study also found that smallholder farmers practicing rainfed agriculture in vulnerable regions, such as the lower Middleveld and western Lowveld, suffered the severe socioeconomic consequences of agricultural drought, including income loss, food insecurity, and migration patterns. Through this integrated approach, decision makers can engage in targeted interventions, focusing on farming areas needing irrigation infrastructures or populated areas requiring a coordinated humanitarian response amidst climate variability.

In recent decades, there has been a growing interest in the application of GIS to community empowerment or new policy development through participatory design, information gathering and implementation. This study, therefore, aims to apply a multi-level participatory GIS (PGIS) framework to assess mobility needs and barriers in rural areas from different available transport modes. This assessment was applied to three sub-locations (Lusheya, Khaunga and Mahola) located in the sub-county of Mumias East, Kakamega, Kenya. The study brings two main contributions: (1) an overview of mobility needs and barriers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and (2) an introduction of a PGIS framework that integrates in-depth local knowledge of rural mobility needs and mobility barriers. This PGIS framework was applied to mobility issues based on three main dimensions: context, process and content. The context in the PGIS framework focuses on identifying the right stakeholders and putting on suitable structures for their training as well as the collection of data. The process considers the collection, analysis and visualization of rural mobility data. The content of the data collected are validated for accuracy in the form of maps and are evaluated for relevance by stakeholders. Local youths with GIS knowledge and digital tools were mobilized along with community people having a solid understanding of the local geographical contexts to collect geographically referenced data related to community resources, transport networks, and mobility barriers. The application of the multi-level PGIS framework has brought to the mainstream daily mobility challenges faced by rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Community members, even those from remote areas, also have access to decision making, reversing the previous structure that strongly relied on often-irrelevant, top-down decision making.

More and more cities in Southern Africa are struggling to manage their waste in a context of rapid urbanisation and increasing poverty. In the Cameroon’s largest city, Yaoundé, managing household waste is a growing concern. The public and the authorities cast blame on each other, and the actions taken by each party far from guarantee an efficient management of household waste, which litters the streets. Considering the above, this paper analyses the socio-political practices of stakeholders and their influence on household waste management in Yaoundé. Based on a qualitative survey that combined both a literature review and interviews, the research analysed the challenges related to household waste management with regard to the economy, the environment, and public health. In addition, a cartographic survey using KoboToolbox was conducted in all seven municipalities to analyse the geographical distribution of the waste areas, their size, and their status within the city organizational framework. In total, 264 waste dumps were collected, of which 110 were formal waste using a waste bin of varying size. Social constructivism, stakeholder theory, and strategic analysis were mobilized to analyse the urban waste governance in Yaoundé. Thus, the poor quality of household waste management in Yaoundé was explained using political, economic, sociocultural, and environmental parameters. The social practices and dynamics of the stakeholders generate undesirable consequences that hinder the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By combining social science and engineering methods, this research aims to demonstrate that the shortcomings of waste governance in Yaoundé are both a collective (authorities/public powers) and individual (citizens) matter.