Water harvesting increases climate resilience in Chikukwa

Chikukwa Ecological Land Use Community Trust (CELUCT) is a member of PELUM Zimbabwe working with smallholder famers in Chimanimani. Through the various agroecological practices implemented at the CELUCT centre (including water harvesting), CELUCT empowers the Chikukwa community to be adapt to climate change and be resilient. CELUCT has designed water harvesting system at the centre that harnesses the heavy rainfalls that Chikukwa receives. In this way the system prevents soil erosion and the resulting land degradation.

Patience Sithole, a programme officer for Chikukwa Ecological Land Use Community Trust (CELUCT), a PELUM Zimbabwe Member says her organisation is using water harvesting as a tool to enhance adaptation and resilience of the Chikukwa community.

Patience says people in Chikukwa are receiving training on the importance of keeping and protecting sacred forests and water catchment areas as a source of water harvesting.

“People are now working together to harvest water collectively and this brings peace to the community. There is a collective understanding that trees should not be randomly cut,” says Patience.

Chikukwa receives rainfall of about 1000mm annually and not less than 600mm in seasons that are considered as dry years. Patience says prevention of soil erosion, water harvesting and water retention are some of the fundamental activities that community members are trained on.

Patience says CELUCT is supporting community members to redesign their homesteads and crop fields so that they are more resilience to climate related shocks.

Patience says the CELUCT Centre, located in Chikukwa serves as a learning model for the community. She says the Centre was developed to become a centre of excellence on agroecology practices so that local communities can learn and replicate the practices.

“The water harvesting techniques used at CELUCT centre provide a working model to community members. The farmers that we train replicate the centre model,” says Patience.

Implementation of water retention and soil erosion prevention measures is crucial for the local communities especially now when Zimbabwe is experiencing extreme weather conditions characterised by cyclones and floods.