Villagers in the arid Mwenezi district, in Masvingo province were facing challenges in getting water for domestic and agricultural use. This was before the introduction of water harvesting techniques by PELUM Zimbabwe member, Mwenezi Development Training Centre (MDTC).
Dambudzo Hlungwani (47) who resides in Mutande village says life had become almost unbearable as women and children had to travel long distances to get water.
“It was very difficult for us as women because of the long distances we were travelling to get to nearest water sources. On average we would travel about 5 kilometres to and from water sources carrying 20-litre buckets of water. Our farming activities had huge limitations because of water shortages,” says Dambudzo.
Fungai Muposhi (47) the Project Manager for MDTC says after noticing the problem of water scarcity and perennial droughts in the community, MDTC supported the community to implement water harvesting initiatives.
“We rehabilitated old dams and constructed other small ones to compliment the bigger dams. 70% of the workers who participated were women and close to 90% of the beneficiaries of the water harvesting projects are women who are also smallholder farmers,” says Fungai.
Dambudzo says the support they received from MDTC has made life easier for women and has also improved their food and nutrition security.
“When MDTC came with the small dam construction project, we quickly took it up because it meant that we would have close access to water and our gardens would flourish. The majority of women took part in the construction of the dams and we are all benefitting from the project through the Matande dam and solar powered borehole that provides water for our garden,” says Dambudzo.
Promise Makoni (50), the MDTC Director says the intervention targeted women specifically because they are the ones who bear the burden of fetching water in most households.