SODI-BMZ: Upscaling CbCCA in rural
communities: Watermanagementcase
study
Introduction
Watercrisis in rural areas have led to villagers finding innovative ways to harvest and store
water for both household consumption and irrigation. In the agriculture e;ective, water
conservation has become increasingly necessary for crop production and sustainability.
One of the most promising and e;ective solutions for e;icient water use is drip irrigation
and bucket drip irrigation that MDF has introduced to farmers to implement as part of the
first principle of water management, these unable farmers to use greywater for irrigation.
Drip irrigation or bucket drip irrigation is a system of watering crops that allows for precise
and controlled application of water directly to the root zone. With this system, water
conservation is maximized, and crop productivity is optimized. Due to the increasing
environmental impact of crop production, bucket drip irrigation has become an
ecologically friendly farming technique that minimizes water waste. Crops grow well from
greywater usage inside a tunnel.
Figure1: A micro tunnel with bucket drip kits and drip irrigation at a households in Matatiele in the Eastern Cape.
An innovative
practice that was
introduced to
farmers for rainwater
harvest include
underground water
tanks with 25000l
water capacity that
can be used for
irrigation on
backyard garden for
winter season.
Figure2: picture showing an underground rainwater harvest
tank, with diversion ditches and a filter where water is filtered
to the tank, Sedawa, Limpopo.Christine Thobejane
A farmer level experiment that was supported
by MDF undertakenby Norah Tshehla and her
grandson, was to construct a cement dam.
They pumped water from the nearest river
using a pump and connected pipes to the dam
to fill it with water for storage andused for
irrigation.
.
MDF facilitators and local facilitator assisted her to connect a main pipe for drip irrigation
in her garden, that will assist her with time management and not spend the entire day
irrigating, but she can continue with other household work.
Norah was happy and grateful that MDF managed to see her struggles through garden
monitoring and assisted her. She is also happy that she will be able to grow her
production at a bigger scale at the comfort of her home to supply more schools.
Water might be a crisis that water management can assist in adapting. At household level
rainwaterharvestthroughgutter connected to house roofing is a common practice for
people in rural communities. This water is used for consumption and household uselike
laundry and cleaning.90% of households have connected jo-jo tanks or 210l tanks to roof
gutter for rainwater harvest and storage.