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New water cisterns are fed with rainwater in drought-prone communities of Guijá
Water cistern under constraction in Nalazi.
Guijá, 11 February 2011 - “No rain - no crops - no food - famine.” These were the words of the community chief’s wife in Nalazi, a drought-prone area. Rainfall in Nalazi changes its pattern every year, making it hard for the community to predict and harvest its crops properly. In such conditions, storing rainwater in cement cisterns is one of the ways to prevent dehydration among the community members and provide water to cattle and crops.
Nalazi is one of communities that is supported through UNDP’s Coping with Drought project that was launched last year in Guijá District, in Gaza, in Southern Mozambique.
Within the framework of the project, four rainwater storing cisterns are being built. The community members - 20 people, of which seven are women - have completed training in the construction of cisterns and, jointly with the facilitator, have built them.
These cisterns will capture the precious gift of the nature, the rain. They are located just next to the community school for the use of school pupils. Potentially, more cisterns will be constructed by community members themselves in different areas of the drought-prone region.
With the systems of cisterns in place, the Project Coordinator Samora Vuma is ambitious to spread the luxury of water to each household, thus enabling each household to preserve, store, and sell produced goods.
In total, there have been four cistern construction trainings held in four communities, each for 20 members. The result so far is four cisterns.
All cisterns will be operational by next June, after at least 50 percent of the water capacity is captured from the rain.
Project Coordinator Samora Vuma explaining the plans.
In another area of the project, in Nhampuguane community one association had already been established to work together on products preservation. A new association with 38 members was trained to make jam from tomatoes, mangos and massala , a wild fruit, for sale on the market.
This year all the project communities will be trained to grow drought-resistant crops, such as sweet potato, cassava and sorghum. Furthermore, the project plans to reinforce market links between the community and the town area to sell conserved products. It will also help improve the communication lines to forecast weather.
By the third quarter of 2011, demonstration camps for drought tolerant crops will be established, as well as nurseries together with water reservoirs, multiplication camps for cassava and sweet potato.
Finally, following the findings of the hydrological study, boreholes equipped with pumps using solar or manual technology will be made so as to ensure permanent water supply.
Further information:
Resisting drought with new crops and water harvesting – news article as per 11 August 2010
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