Water Spreading (typical example from Hashatribab) (Судан)

Construction of water spreading system on khor and wadi with machinery jointly government and farmers in dam compaction and pitching.

Aims / objectives: The main objective of the approach is to enable domestic land users cultivating crops (sorghum mainly) on a flood plain through construction of an earthen, stone-pitched barrier across the bed of a khor (stream). This earth dam serves to divert floodwaters onto their fields downstream. The approach is fully subsidized as the government provide technician and machines for the construction. Only some voluntary contribution from the beneficiaries is needed (for stone pitching). However maintenance support by the government is not provided later on.

This case study is typical of all those in the State. All are demand-driven...In addition the government supports farmers in rural extension e.g. preparedness, awareness, organization and mobilization, and to establish farmers VDCs (Village Development Committee) to guide the community in public works. Training and capacity building sessions in cultural extension are hold to develop crop raising techniques. The aim behind this is mainly to fill the gap of people’s deficiency in storage of crops such as sorghum and millet to maintain food security in the region.

Methods: 1/ Earth dam and terraces construction for water diversion and spreading.
2/ Agronomic measures e.g. ploughing, levelling, furrowing etc. to raise the soil to its maximum capacity.
3/ Provision of certified seeds: Varieties of short mature period and of drought resistance.
4/ Provision of special hand tools for weeding to maintain soil moistures and sustain the growing of crops.
5/ Development of mixed crop systems by provision of cash crop to support the rural economy.

Stages of implementation: 1. Identify and prioritize the needs of local beneficiaries according to their land size, social and economic situation, the local soil types, the cultivated indigenous crops etc.
2. To reach mutual partnership between Government and local communities a certain number of beneficiaries of the community is dedicated to contribute to volunteer manual work.
3. Based on peoples previous natural environment experience the location of the dam is to be examined and an engineering map has to be set out. That means people’s involvement from the very beginning of the project for planning, design and implementation.
4. For construction the government provides necessary needed machines.
5. The local community should mainly ensure the maintenance and the clearing out of the land for smooth water flow.

Role of stakeholders: Division of labor between the stockholders so as to identify the role
1- Land owners: piece of land.
2- Farmers: farming activities.
3- Ministry of Agriculture (MoA): provide machinery and technical support.
4- SLM specialist: will give the technical advice.

Other important information: Floodwater now takes way to any lower area and creates a new water course.
After several years soil should be tilled by ploughing, planking and furrowing to increase water infiltration and percolation as over the years the accumulated silt turns the soils nearly impermeable.

Finally some types of soil in the Red Sea State become very fertile and rich and do not need chemical or organic fertilizers anymore.