The change in climate has become dramatic. After a short rain season end of 2018 with rainfall significantly below average, we were facing the impact of cyclon Idai, bringing drought in a time when we usually have very heavy and reliable rain. In fact, since 2 years the weather has become completely unreliable – periods of extreme rainfall are followed by unusual long periods of drought. Through this extended drought period, we had to go for manual irrigation with limited water. It was just enough to allow the crop to survive. Based on this we had to go for a solution of which we hadn´t expected that it would be necessary for that region, that usually has enough rainfall all over the year with the exception of a dry period between the end of December to the end of February – installation of a comprehensive irrigation system.
The concept bases on the idea to use the rainwater during the dry season and collect it in large basins, to be on the safe side in a case the natural resources run dry. Additionally, we had to drill a 175m deep borehole.
The primary resource is a small river at which we built a small dam and from where we take some water to fill the basins during the rain season. The central point is the large basin with a capacity of 5.000.000 litres, supported by smaller basins close to the areas where the water is required with capacities between 500.000 and 1.000.000 litres. Besides this, we dug drainages to collect rainwater in the large basin. And last but not least if everything goes wrong we dug a borehole to keep the plants at least alive if we face an extended dry period and all other sources run dry. The use of rainwater is not only the most cost-effective way but also a solution with the least impact on the environment.
The project is still in progress, but we hope that we can finish it before the dry season comes.