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Sand Dams in Mozambique
Joel Kempf is working with the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in Mozambique. Through MCC Kenya, which funds Excellent Development, a team from Mozambique came to Kenya in 2007 to find out more about sand dams and how they could be useful back home. Joel sent this update in April 2009 on their work in the village of Dzunga.
I visited Dzunga and neighboring communities last week where I was quite impressed with the work that is being done. I wanted to give a report to all who are interested in our continuing work here in Mozambique with fighting hunger so that those who support us know that it is making a difference. The first sand dam at Dzunga has been completed and already filled to the level with sand. I walked the river several kilometres back and the river is full of water after the rainy season. At points we fell into mild quicksand in the saturated sand where at points the water is actually running above the surface of the dam. In the picture I am sending kids are swimming in the pool made by the dam. You may ask why there is water on the downside of the dam. This is because of the natural dam downstream. There is a noticeably higher level of water equal to the height of the dam on the upward side which means it is holding water. Dzunga is not like the communities in Mandie where water is non-existent, however there is not enough for agricultural activities like vegetables, grains and livestock for all or in stressed times like drought. Neither is their enough water to grow fruit trees since water disappears in the dry season at times where all trees would die. It will be interesting to watch the level of the water behind the dam in the coming months to see what happens as the dry season commences. The community has parceled out land on both sides of the river back about 1 km for those interested in planting and irrigating vegetables. The community members are quite motivated in opening new fields and eager to plant vegetables where only a few had space and water to do so in the past. Walking further upriver a person can see other random fields being opened above river by people who are not directly beneficiaries of the project. There are now two agricultural extension agents working for the project. They have encouraged the communities to leave 3-6 metres of grass along the bank margins to control erosion and will be training people in vegetable production. We did a demonstration of how to make contour lines using grass to conserve the soil and improve water infiltration in the field. The goal is to plant fruit trees (bananas, oranges, mangos) along the grass strip on the margin of the river where there is now water. Also manioc - a crop that produces during the time of year when people are hungry and can supply food in times of shortage and drought as it is extremely hardy and drought resistant. The trench for the second dam in Cuchumano has been dug and women are collecting sand and rocks for construction. The third dam has also been dug and we are waiting for cement to come to begin construction. At all three sites, the community members have identified, marked and fenced off fields from cattle and goats for use in future production. All of this work would not have been possible if it had not been for the help of the World Food Program (WFP) who has been supporting the project through Food for Work ever since the Canadian FoodGrains Bank learning tour was here in November. This has helped the communities to be able to continue to work through the hungry season. The WFP was very willing to support the work in the community because the community members are showing initiative to work to better their own lives by improving the infrastructures in their own community. We hope this good partnership continues. Find out more about MCCs work with sand dams
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