The subsistence Zimbabwean farmer, Zephaniah Phiri, introduced this method to Zimbabwe in the late 1960s; and as happens with all new things, the authorities in colonial Zimbabwe arrested him for introducing a method the success of which they doubted. But the arrest did not stop Phiri from continuing to implement the method on his small rural farm in Zvishavane. Today, Phiri, now in his late 70s, is emerging as the hero that he was when he first introduced this method. Phiri has proved wrong people who doubted the effectiveness of this method, because it promotes food security. It also generates more income for farmers from sales of a variety of crops that they can now harvest throughout the year from the same piece of land, resulting in a better standard of living. 

Mrs. Khetiwe Mhlanga, UNDP Africa 2000 Plus Network Coordinator said, “We have known about Mr. Phiri’s work for years. Mr. Phiri also read about the UNDP Africa 2000 Plus Network’s work and wrote to us. That’s how we came to know him.”

Commenting on why Zimbabwe’s Agricultural Extension Services was not using Mr. Phiri’s water harvesting method as a solution to fight drought and promote greater yield from agricultural products countrywide, Mrs. Mhlanga said, “The Agricultural Extension Services, like most governments, don’t learn from common people. Even in Japan at the World Water Forum, government people didn’t go see work done by NGOs and community representatives.”

However, Mrs. Mhlanga said the water harvesting method is spreading steadily on small-scale farms in Zimbabwe, but using a method that is slightly different from that of Phiri, who has been harvesting water on sloppy land.

Meanwhile, most SHAFAC members who have implemented the water harvesting method on their small scale commercial farms said in separate interviews that five years from now they see themselves owning sophisticated farming equipment, including tractors, due to revenue generated from the water harvesting method-fed agricultural produce.

Through the use of this method, the SHAFAC small-scale commercial farmers await another bumper harvest this year. The UNDP Africa 2000 Plus Network Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEFSP) assisted the farmers to establish the water harvesting method in the year 2000. Funded by Hilswerk , Austria , the ABC+Water Project is aimed at restoring the people’s livelihoods in the Shagashe farming area, through ecologically sustainable agriculture.

While the water harvesting technology has helped SHAFAC to beat the negative impacts of drought, large and small scale commercial farmers and subsistence farmers in Zimbabwe have once again succumbed to another drought this year, leaving the country with inadequate food supplies. Sadly, the method that could provide answers to Zimbabwe ’s food security problems in dry regions and in times of drought has taken time to take off the ground. The UNDP Africa 2000 Plus Network is working towards promoting the use of this technology throughout Zimbabwe and globally.

The UNDP Africa 2000 Plus Network showcased this technology through photographic posters at the World Water Forum in Kyoto , Japan last March to benefit countries whose food supplies continue to lessen as long as the drought persists.

Mrs. Mhlanga said the response to their water harvesting campaign in Kyoto is yet to come. She also presented a paper on capacity building at the World Water Forum.

The Installation Process

To install this method on one’s farm, all one needs to do is to dig filtration pits not more than a meter deep and a meter wide and the length can be as long as 1-30 meters at the top of the field so that the harvested rain water can filter through into the fields with crops. SHAFAC farmers say the installation of the water harvesting technology is very cheap.

When it rains, the water harvesting filtration pits hold the water and prevent run-off. The water harvesting filtration pits give the rainwater good contact time with the soil and allow it to sink into the soil and not to be lost as run-off. An added advantage of this method is that it also minimizes soil erosion, thereby promoting sustainable agriculture. The water harvesting filtration pits raise the water table because they allow water to filter into the soil. When the water table is rising, it also initiates some capillary action, drawing moisture from deep down underground to come to the surface. “This is a double cumulative effect that is very good for the environment,” said Mr. Mugweni. “The wet conditions result in grass and many plant species growing lavishly on the farm, serving as a good conservation measure. In wetland areas you get a lot of the water-loving plants coming in the area, in addition to animals and insects.”