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Govt urged to prioritise water harvesting |
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Monday, 13 February 2012 16:15 |
 A call has been made for government to prioritise and promote rainwater harvesting projects on a national scale as a climate change mitigation and adaptation measure.
The Institute of Water and Sanitation says it is concerned with the lack of a national programme on rainwater harvesting which can be used as a climate change adaptation programme.
The institute Executive Director, Mrs. Noma Neseni said government should prioritise water harvesting projects in all the provinces to enable families to benefit in times of drought.
“Water harvesting is a way of capturing rain as it falls and retaining it in the soil or in tanks below ground so that it can later be used as a source of clean water for domestic chores or gardening to enable families to plant and harvest enough food in times of scarce water,” Mrs Neseni said.
Mrs. Neseni said 90% of agriculture in Zimbabwe is rain-fed, making it even more vulnerable to changing weather patterns, hence the need for rainwater harvesting to be carried out at national level.
Mrs Neseni also noted that if priority is set on water harvesting, it will be a success considering that components of the Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) systems are manufactured in Zimbabwe, creating jobs and a nascent rain water collection industry in the free market.
Climate change is disrupting the world's rainfall patterns with some countries such as Zimbabwe suffering from a drastic drop and erratic rainfall patterns leading to a fall in water levels in many reservoirs and rivers.
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