By Stephen Twomlow
It’s
close to forty years since Pacey and Cullis published their ground-breaking
work - Rainwater Harvesting: The Collection of Rainfall and Runoff in Rural
Areas.
Yet, despite this book and a host of others over
the intervening years, including a recent publication by IFAD (Water Harvesting-Guidelines to Good Practice), the large majority of corrugated
iron rooftops in rural Africa are not being utilised to their full potential,
lacking guttering or any form of rainwater capture. The rainwater is allowed to
cascade off the roof in torrents causing damage to housing foundations and the
surrounding soils.
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| ©IFAD/Stephen Twomlow & Will Critchley |
Many households lack ready access to potable water, with the women of the
household often spending several hours each days walking to and from the
nearest water source – which is often polluted. At times they find the water
sources have dried up or the pumps have failed. This is a great cause for
concern in these disadvantaged communities, especially where households are
headed by elderly women who are too sickly to walk long distances.
A symbol of wealth throughout Africa is the corrugated
iron sheet roof. A goal many rural households strive for.
Water scarcity is a reality throughout Africa. To address this, the
IFAD-GEF project ‘Lower Usuthu Sustainable Land Management Project’ (LUSLM) made
the management of rooftop runoff a priority and began to explore the multiple
benefits offered, especially the economic empowerment of women. The project
trained women’s groups in construction
of rainwater harvesting tanks using reinforced cement.
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| ©IFAD/Stephen Twomlow & Will Critchley |
The tanks are made out of concrete mortar reinforced with
mesh fence and placed on a slab constructed of locally available material -
either stones or bricks. The benefits
from the tanks are many and include a supply of clean water for domestic use, and
time freed up for more income generating activities such as home gardens and
poultry keeping.
The success stories from Swaziland are spreading across
East and Southern Africa. Homestead rainwater harvesting activities are
increasingly included in annual work plan and budgets of ongoing projects such
as the ‘Community-based Integrated Natural Resources Management Project’ (CBINReMP) in Lake Tana Catchment, Ethiopia
- and the new project designs taking place in Kenya and Uganda.
Sometimes answers are simple. And often South:South
knowledge and experience sharing is the key to success.
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| ©IFAD/Stephen Twomlow & Will Critchley |
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