Solar irrigation gardens in Sibhula
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Authors
Annie Halliman
Issue Date
2016-04
Type
Language
en
Keywords
Agriculture
Alternative Title
Abstract
Leslie is the Chair of the Matshokodo Group in Sibhula, Gwanda, Zimbabwe. The group maintain the solar Matshokodo garden. Leslie explained that the group started in 1984, with a plot that was 50m x 50m. "There were 14 members at that time but as people got older, they retired as carrying buckets was too labour intensive. But we remained as a group with the few that could carry on." "Then Practical Action found us, and they said they could assist as there was an opportunity as we were already an organized group. Community contributed to the materials to first install the fence and then it took 4 or 5 months to install the solar powered water pump. We were also given fertilizer to use in the garden. The tank capacity is 10,000 litres. The water comes from the river, but in December it was so dry that the tank took all day to fill, when it usually takes 3 hours." “We are now sitting in the garden of heaven. We grow okra, sugar beans, tomatoes, spinach. We are putting your money to good use, that is our motto. We are in business. Before the plots were too small, but now, collectively we sell to markets and divide the proceeds between us. Every month, each member contributes $7 to the security of the group, we have built a toilet and next we are building a store." "We now have 20 members, 14 of which are women and the youngest is age 25. Each member represents 1 family in the community, and we come with our families to work in the garden. We still want to expand as the demand is there. There are some members of the community that are left out as we cannot portion out the plot between any more people; we would like to serve more members of the community. When Practical Action came, we invited people to join the group to expand. Now people have seen the good of it, they also want to join." There at least 5 people in each members family (100 people) and enough is grown in the garden for there to be produce left to sell at the market. "When it is cloudy the pump stops, so we would like a battery to store the energy. The mechanization of the system we are not 100% sure of it as it has stopped before. We would like support to help when it breaks down, as it is a concern. If we were to expand, we would need another water tower. We water one half today and the other half the next day as it takes a long time to fill the tank. So our plan is to expand. We were also given a hosepipe to water the rest of the garden but it is of poor quality and it is not as efficient as the drip irrigation system as still takes time and uses a lot of water." "There is no borehole in our community so all household water comes from the river. We have a plantation plan and we are rotating but we do not leave the ground to rest. But we want to expand so that we can do this. We have had a workshop on training and knowledge and are using fertilizer but sometimes the customer doesn’t like the taste so we using manure. We use a chemical pest-control but there are some natural products we can use such as aloe vera."