This study was undertaken to investigate the role and function of secondary channels (those that arise within the swamps and carry no externally derived bedload sediment) in the Okavango Delta, and focused on the Maunachira Channel. This study suggests that secondary channels such as the Maunachira Channel arise due to local oversteepening of the gradient on the fan surface and their role is to redistribute sediment down the fan. Their efficiency is, however, probably very low, because both erosion and deposition of sediment is confined largely to in-channel areas. Hydrology.