Water Harvesting and Institutional Strengthening

Results achieved as of the end of the project (June 2013) include increased capacity of government partners to support food security for male and female farmers through improved water management. Since the start of the project 7 300 farmers have been trained in water harvesting irrigation and watershed management by project supported districts for a cumulative total of 21 952 (3 254 female). As a result of this training local watershed management has improved with an average of 58 percent (1 232 hectares) of six watersheds protected by fences terracing and other biological and physical conservation structures. Eleven percent of this coverage was achieved in the reporting year. The project supported piloting of 82 household water harvesting structures which include ponds and wells have resulted in the construction of more than 1 500 additional ponds and wells from local government resources. The project has also contributed to improved institutional capacity of government partners which has resulted in the design of 41 small to medium scale irrigation schemes by government partners since 2009/2010. Improved management of all irrigation schemes built and rehabilitated by the project resulted in the formation of 24 new water user associations and the strengthening of four existing ones. These measures have increased the availability of water for agricultural use and are contributing to improved agricultural production and food security.