Soil and Water Conservation
WWF March 2021
Intercepting / capturing rainwater
Slowing the water down
Channelling the water to where it is needed
Storing the water (a) directly in the soil, or (b) in tanks
or storage containers
The WHC Process
PrinciplesofRWH
•Principle One: Begin with long and thoughtful observation
•Principle Two: Start at the topof your CATCHMENT and work your
way down.
•Principle Three:Start small and simple
•Principle Four: Slow, spread and infiltrate the flow of water
•Principle Five: Always plan an overflow route, and manage that
overflow as a resource
•Principle Six: Create a living sponge
•Principle Seven: Do more than just harvest water
•Principle Eight: Continually reassess your system
Partitioningofrainfall—
weeds, evaporation,
runoff account for most
of the rain falling in a
field—so reducing losses
makes more water
availableforcrops
From Hatibu and Rockström
Where does the water go?
Catching the water where it falls
•Slow it down, catch it, let it sink in!!
Add organic matter to the
soil
Mulch and use ground
covers, bushes and trees
Protect your garden from
wind
Construct ditches and
swales
Construct earth banks or
bunds
Matshepo Khumabne’s system
!"#$%&''()"(*%+%,*"--./
Rainwater is channeled along hard footpaths to deep beds filled with organic waste
Soft beds with
porous sides
S&W conservation: Contours, cut off drains, swales,
stone lines, check dams
Earth banks, swales, ditches
Slope and aspect
•North facing slope is ideal, with little to no
slope
•Also consider water flow and wind direction
Wind and frost
protection
Collect and store run-off
Collect rainwater for storage and use at a later stage
Treadlepumps
ØHigh-capacity pump powered bybody
weight and leg muscles
üOperate 2 pistons by stepping
motion
ØLift water 5-7 meters—suction pump
ØLift water to a level above the pump—
pressure pump
ØCapacity up to 7 cubic meters/hour—
sufficient to irrigate almost a hectare
(less in practice)
ØNo purchasing of fuel, minimal
maintenance
ØMultiple uses—not only irrigation
Saving the water we do have
•Re-use grey water
•Use water that you have as sparingly as
possible
Towergardens
•Vegetablesaregrowninacolumnofsoilthat
fills a bag.
•Spinach or greens are planted in holes cut in
the sides
•Tomatoesandonionsareplantedinthetop
layer
•Availablegreywaterispouredintothecenter
of the bag.
•More water can be added if necessary
•Vegetablescanbeharvested
for a long period (9months),
before replanting
•This is a good method for
people who are not physically
strongand donothave access to
waterforirrigating
Mind mobilisation
for household food security
Presentation by:
WaterforFoodMovement&IWMI
Family5-year food security
“helicopter plan”
House water recycling
Food gardening
Family time
management
Eva digging her dam
“Time is life. If you waste your
time, you waste your life.”
-Tim Lakein
•Family time management
•Re-socialisation of the youth
•Redefinition of gender roles
FUN!!
Emily’s triumph
16 Oct 2003: Awareness!
catching the first rain
Oct-Nov 2003:
digging storage to catch
more
19 Jan 2004:
“We have buried the hunger”
Re-agrarianisation & resocialisation:
-homestead gardens
-womenandyouth!
Growing food at home –Winter 2002
On 222 m2area > 1 tonne of vegetables
including onions worth 6 months’ staples
Food grown for family of 6
- Khumbane, Winter 2002
land food months
(sq.m)(kg) offood
Beetroot 30 1267
Broccolli 23 572
Cabbage 12 968
Carrots 12 504
Cauliflower 10 694
Lettuce 20 642
Onion 50 35065
Peas 43 655
Spinash 14 422
Other 834
TOTAL 222 953
Automatic irrigation with ‘run-on’ water
!"#$%&''()"(*%+%,*"--./
Rainwater is channeled
along hard footpaths to
deep beds filled with
organic waste
Soft beds with
porous sides
Irrigation requirements
(m3/100m2trenched food garden)
-Strydkraal village, Sekhukhune District, Limpopo Province, South Africa
PLOT
CROP 1
CROP 2
OCT
NOV
DEC
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
1
Beetroot
Cabbage
0.8
0.8
0.6
0.8
0.8
0.8
1
2
Cabbage
Lettuce
0.8
0.8
1
0.4
0.8
0.8
0.8
0.8
3
Carrot
Sweetcorn
1.3
0.5
0.6
0.6
0.6
1
1
4
Pumpkin
Peas
0.8
0.8
0.8
1
1
1
1
1
5
Swiss-chard
Runner-beans
1
1
1
1
0.8
0.6
0.8
1.5
1.5
1.5
6
Beans
Potato
1.8
0.8
0.8
0.8
0.9
1.3
1.6
7
Sweetcorn
Cauliflower
1
1
0.3
0.8
0.8
0.8
0.8
1
8
Runner-beans
Onion
0.8
0.8
0.8
0.2
0.3
0.6
0.8
1.3
1
0.4
9
Patats
Tomato
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
10
Sweetcorn
Cabbage
1
1
0.3
1
0.8
0.4
1
Monthly total (m3)
9.5
5.9
5.8
3.8
5.4
4.3
6
5.8
6.5
7.2
6.2
6.1
Subtotal:
SUMMER SUPPLEMENTARY IRRIGATION (m3)
34.7
Subtotal:
WINTER TOTAL IRRIGATION (m3)
37.8
Roofareaandvolumeofstoragerequiredforwinter
Examples of RWH storage tanks
Cement bricks and plaster, Umbumbulu, Finn builder, Umbumbulu
PVC lining, Potshini (UKZN SSI Programme)Hemi-spherical Ferrocement tank, Potshini
Geofabric & bitumen
1mm HDPE plastic
Cement blocksFibre plaster
RWHinCatha,EasternCape
RWHinPotshiniKZN
Get the rainwater into the root zone—
It makes a big difference!
From N Hatibu
Conservation Agriculture
ØMenu of techniques including
mulching, ridging, reduced tillage,
planting pits, etc.
ØEarly years high labor requirement, but
lower labor inputs once established
Photo: mulching, Tanzania
Conservation Agriculture
ØVerylargemenuof
technologiesavailable
ØCan package to create
synergiesandadapttolocal
needs
ØKey is combining water and
soil nutrient management
ØParticipatory approaches to
help farmers try new ideas
and combinations
Photo: zai pits, Tanzania
Ex-situWaterHarvestingandStorage
ØRange of technologies to catch water falling on adjacent surfaces
(roads, footpaths, household compounds, etc.) and directing it to
where it is needed (in field) or into storage facilities.
ØHere examine household and roof top harvesting, and above- and
below-ground storage tanks
Learning process
Day workshops at a
homestead level
•Joint analysis of the farming process
•New topics included through
discussion and on request
•Practical implementation and
demonstrations
•Learning group members conduct
experiments at their own homesteads
•Once a season, the groups get
together to celebrate the progress of
their members, report on their
experiments and plan for the coming
season.
Workshopagendas(7)
1: Nutrition –Garden drawing; food groups; “what we eat”; nutritional gaps
2: Experimentation and Trench Beds – Importance of observation; Trench bed demo
3: Garden Layout –Rain Water Harvesting; wind and frost protection; soils; mulching
4: Brews and Liquid Manure – Pest and disease control; soil fertility
5: Fruit Treesand Crop Rotation– Fruit production; companion planting; crop rotation
6: Food and Seeds– Food processing; seed saving; celebration
7: Tank Safety and Maintenance –Water management user education; RWH review,
irrigation
Principles of garden layout and design
(water, topography, aspect, wind...)
Rainwater: catchments, drainage, run-off
and run-on
Highlights:
Garden layout
Clockwise: Layout drawing,
run-on ditches group work,
example in Moretele
Crop diversification
Clockwise; beetroot and
mustard spinach, turnips,
windbreaks and
mulching, kale, broccoli
