Loss of rainfall attributed to climate changehas stimulated new innovations of accessing water in dry seasons. Developmentexperts are assisting smallholder farmers and rural communities' in accessingclean water while responding to global warming.
Scientific studies have shown that theever-increasing global temperature is reducing the size of water basins in manydeveloping countries like Zambia. Some areas that were traditionally wetlandsare now facing constant drought. Other areas that were initially drought prone are now experiencing severe flooding. The fluctuations in weatherconditions has led to poor water supply and increased water-borne diseases suchas cholera.
In an effort to assist Zambia's ruralcommunities in their ability to respond and adapt to global warming, a team ofexperts is encouraging smallholder farmers and rural communities to set up rainwater harvesting structures. The team isalso assisting in the effort. The Zambia National Farmers Union through itsConservation Farming Unit is helping farmers dig water harvesting basins. WaterHarvesting is a simple and cheap technique for collecting excess water fordrinking or irrigation. The water is usually retained in either small dams, manually-dugbasins or huge underground storage tanks.
Lisa Sendwe is the Agro-forestry Farm Managerat the Conservation Farming Unit of the Zambia National Farmers Union inChisamba, Central Zambia.
Sendwe notes that in semi-arid and aridareas, a year's rainfall may occur in just a few big storms. With insufficientwater storage facilities most of the water is simply lost.
She explains that in this case, rain waterharvesting is certainly advisable for rural communities to adapt to globalwarming and erratic water supply.
"You know our rainfall pattern is bad. Sowhat happens usually is we talk to farmers how to dig a basin. This basin willbe like a reservoir. It will capture the water and hold the water such thateven if there will be a drought for sometime?that water will be utilized bythe plants because it will be kept in the basin for sometime and we digpermanent basins," she says.
Recent studies have shown that Africanfarmers on rain-fed land will lose $28 per hectare per year for each Celsiusdegree rise in global temperature. Global warming erodes coastlines, underminesaccess to water, spreads pests and water-borne disease and produces moreerratic weather patterns.
Noting the serious effects of global warmingon water access, the Batoka Livestock Development Center in Southern Zambia isalso encouraging farmers and surrounding communities to invest in rain waterharvesting projects.
Bernard Muntanga is the Project Coordinatorof the Water Harvesting Project at the Batoka Livestock Development Center inChoma. At one of the sites he says, "Thisditch?is actually supposed to be a reservoir. The purpose of this?is water harvesting.We will have some? [pipes] on the roof then connect some poly [plastic orrubber]pipes which come straightinto this ditch so that when rain comes it is collected from the roofs, then westore it. During dry season we can still utilize it either through irrigationor drinking water."
Sahelian Solutions is a non-governmentalorganization that is promoting the construction of sand dams. They arealso used to store water for future use. The NGO has so far assisted Kenya's ruralcommunities in constructing 300 sand dams. The project is now being extendedto Zambia, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.
Arjen de Vries is General Manager for AcaciaWater, and a water specialist for Sahelian Solutions. He says the aim of the sand dams project isto improve access to water within Africa's rural communities. De Vries says in areas considered semi-aridand arid, local people have problems dealing with constant drought for bothdomestic and agricultural use. He explains how sand dams work.
"It's actually a very simple construction. Imean it's an old technique. What people do is that they more or less block ariver bed containing sand. And they block it through construction of a concretetype of dam. The whole dam fills up with sediment. The next rainy season thewater will be captured behind the concrete dam in the sediment. And because ofthe sediment, the water will not be evaporating. From a water qualityperspective, it's not so susceptible to pollution," he says.
Only58 per cent of Zambia's 12 million people have access to cleandrinking water.