Dabane Trust is piloting the technology in arid areas in an attempt to improve farming and provide irrigation for subsistence agriculture. The trust’s director, Stephen Hussey, said his organisation was planning to establish 208 sand –abstraction water points, 20 sand dams, 500 bio-filtration tanks and 2,860 Blair latrines in = Gwanda as soon as the sand –abstraction project was approved by the government.
“Although we have established sand–abstraction water points in areas like Bulilima, Binga, Mangwe , Nyanga, Gokwe and Mt. Darwin, these projects were mainly pilot schemes and once the project is approved by relevant government ministries, we will establish more of these systems,” said Hussey.
Hussey said the project had to be approved by the National Coordinating Unit which involves ministries of Health and Child Welfare, Transport, Communication and Infrastructure Development and Water Resources and Development and Management. Local authorities also have to approve the project before implementation.
All the pumps use simple technology to draw the water. Hussey explained that where the pumps are used to provide water for gardens, the water is pumped to a small holding tank from where it gravitates to six dipping wells where gardeners draw water to irrigate beds of vegetables.
Each garden is typically managed by a group of 10 women who grow vegetables for their families and generate an income from the sale of surplus for school fees and other essentials.
Post published in: News