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Success Story
New irrigation systems
save water and labor and
improve nutrition
Drip Irrigation Turns Gravel into Green
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Photo: Lifa Methie, DAI
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The Makombes saw their crops
thrive using drip irrigation.
For some, the surplus
vegetables produced by drip
irrigation have generated
enough income to buy a
year’s worth of corn (maize),
keep their children in school
or buy basic medicines.
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What used to be a patch of gravel behind the Makombe
homestead in Musipami village is now a thriving 100-squaremeter
garden of green leafy vegetables — a small miracle in a
remote and overpopulated village in a country suffering from a
complex economic, political and agricultural decline.
USAID helped Mr. and Mrs. Makombe install a drip-irrigation kit
for their garden — one of 24,000 plots established with the lowcost
systems. Designed to save labor and water, enhance
nutrition and improve food security, the average drip-irrigation
kit is easy to install. It uses far less water than traditional
bucket-watering, which is inefficient, wasteful and difficult.
Even after USAID training, some users were initially skeptical
that their plants would get enough moisture. But as more and
more kits were installed, communities became convinced when
they saw crop yields increase with half the water and labor
investment.
With agricultural production in Zimbabwe slashed due to
chaotic land use practices, prices for staple foods are inflated,
and out of reach for poor households. But for some, the surplus
vegetables produced by drip irrigation have generated enough
income to buy a year’s worth of corn (maize), keep their
children in school or buy basic medicines.
Larger kits have been installed at hospitals and community
gardens, which serve significant numbers of people with HIV or
AIDS, people who benefit the most from less labor and better
nutrition. Being able to grow their own vegetables has also
eased hospitals’ financial burden, especially in remote areas far
from suppliers and vendors.
A few months after the Makombes installed their irrigated
garden, they hosted a field day at their homestead. More than
300 villagers, including two local chiefs, gathered to witness for
themselves the results of the simple and inexpensive
household garden kit. The Makombes were proud to show how
they have become food secure, even in insecure times.
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