Lloyd Ruvengo (32) says he has developed a unique system that harvests rainwater. Lloyd is a small-scale farmer working with the Mwenezi Development Training Centre (MDTC) in Mwenezi district. Lloyd says he discovered that he had a special connection with water in 2021.
“I relocated to my ancestral land in Maranda ward 9, from Mangondi ward 14 in Mwenezi district. Upon arrival, I noted that rainfall patterns were erratic and my crops suffered from moisture stress frequently. I started digging infiltration pits and initiated water harvesting techniques,” says Lloyd.
Lloyd says he found a way to speak the same language with water when he took time to observe how rainwater behaved when it flowed during the rainy season.
“I started channeling water from the hills that are opposite my homestead. I dug pits especially on termite mounds in my field so that the water would collect there and seep underground using the natural tunnel system created by termites. This worked well for me as most of the rainwater was then stored underground. I also constructed small reservoirs to store some of the rainwater,” explains Lloyd.
Lloyd says while he was observing and experimenting on his own, he was connected to Mwenezi Development Training Centre (MDTC), a member of PELUM Zimbabwe working with small-scale farmers in Mwenezi district to promote agroecology and increase farmers’ resilience to the changing climate.
“I saw what MDTC was doing with water conservation in our community through building small dams and water reservoirs. This was helping my community to harvest water. I was encouraged by this work, and I decided to learn from MDTC,” says Lloyd.
MDTC Field Officer, Itayi Masukume (46) says his organisation has been strengthening the capacity of farmers to harvest rainwater in Mwenezi district.
“We have been working with small-scale farmers like Lloyd in Mwenezi. Farmers have been trained to construct small dams and they have gone on to establish community gardens. This has improved their livelihoods,” he says.
Daniel Ndlovu (35) is the Programme Officer for PELUM Zimbabwe member, Muonde Trust, one of the leading innovative water harvesting centres in Zimbabwe. Daniel says there is need to have synergies and collaborations between organisations and farmers so that they harness traditional innovations for sustainable water and ecosystems management.
“We encourage farmers to take a lead in sustainable regenerative practices. Organisations should create synergies among themselves and farmers for deeper learning and confidence to practice agroecology,” he says.