The LAND Project strives to improve livelihoods through cooperative problem solving and creative solutions. In conversation with local community members, LAND has worked to help meet needs and close gaps through simple initiatives with a tangible impact including support for a wool producing cooperative and efforts to reduce indoor air pollution.
Women’s wool cooperative
In September, 2014, the LAND Project delivered a healthy ram to the women’s wool cooperative in the Eastern Cape. The healthy new breeding stock was welcomed with great enthusiasm by the women’s wool cooperative, who are eager to improve the quality of their flocks’ wool for future sale of natural fibers to US outdoors companies. The LAND Project is in conversations with these companies to develop beneficial terms of trade for the women via direct-marketing.
Indoor Air Pollution
In 2012, the World Health Organization estimated that 4.3 million deaths were linked to indoor air pollution, especially in households that cook over coal, wood, or biomass stoves. This is a substantial issue for villagers in South Africa, many of whom struggle with lung problems from inhaled particulate matter from wood burning. To help alleviate the disease burden of indoor air pollution, limit the burden of this pollution on productivity and wellbeing, while also protecting precious tree resources, the LAND Project is investing in rocket stoves
Rocket Stoves! The name is nearly as exciting as the concept itself. On a recent trip to the Eastern Cape, the LAND Project introduced Kumanzimdaka villagers to the simple, yet highly efficient brick “rocket stove.” These low-cost stoves burn fuel with unrivaled efficiency–an outcome that has the potential to reduce indoor air pollution significantly (most women in the area cook over over open fires inside, especially during the winter), limit tree cutting, and minimize the amount of time required to fetch wood fuel for cooking.
The rocket stove (depicted below) was met by local men and women alike with roaring applause (and accompanying flames!). The LAND Project estimates that a rocket stove can be constructed for less than $10.00 in-country and could save both money and time, while also protecting lungs in the long-run.
Water Security
Water Woes – Contamination Plagues Drinking Supply in the Eastern Cape; LAND Project Plans to Respond
The water in Kumanzimdaka is contaminated and people are getting sick.
Results from a recent study by LAND Project team-member, Theo Loo, confirm that all primary springs in Mmangweni (one of four smaller communities within Kumanzimdaka village) are contaminated with livestock feces making them a health hazard (see picture below). In addition to testing the water sources themselves, Loo surveyed local household members about their water security. At least 61% of community members surveyed reported suffering from gastrointestinal distress throughout the year. And people are walking long distances to collect this dirty water – about 109 minutes per day on average. The results of this study reaffirm the need for better and improved water security strategies in Mmangweni to reduce water stress.
Loo, who won a Wisconsin Idea Fellowship Research Grant to investigate the topic, conducted this research in August 2015. He observed that Kumanzimdaka, like so many other rural areas in South Africa, depends on ground springs for drinking water and lacks the capacity to easily transport and protect these water resources. This situation fosters the transmission of waterborne diseases. Loo analyzed the current factors contributing to water stress in Mmangweni village by employing interdisciplinary methods including household surveys, water quality testing, and geospatial analyses. One of the best, and first methods required in order to truly understand the complexities of water use, is simply to talk to people. Loo went door to door, asking questions and listening intently. He evaluated water accessibility, quality, and usage. He also took photographs of springs and geo-tagged them before testing each for fecal coliforms. Loo generated a comprehensive map of the village’s household, springs, and community centers.
Loo’s conclusions were drastic, but not altogether surprising. The LAND Project has long suspected that community members suffer from chronic and debilitating health impacts due to unclear water. They’ve told us as much, but never before has a study of this kind been conducted in Kumanzimdaka.
This study has served as a genuine catalyst for action. The LAND Project is committed to working in partnership with community members to address the situation as soon as possible, to reduce waterborne disease and improve water security overall. In August 2016, three LAND Project team members returned to Kumanzimdaka to meet with community-members to discuss the situation. After much dialogue, the team determined that there may be one good option with the potential to make an immediate dent in Kumanzimdaka’s water woes. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is a low-tech strategy that could reduce poverty by improving agricultural productivity and profitability in rain-fed areas across Africa (Rockström et al., 2007). We believe that Kumanzimdaka is no exception. RHW involves collecting, conserving, storing, and utilizing rainwater for numerous uses, including irrigation, washing, cooking, livestock, and drinking.
In 2017, the LAND Project plans to install a series of household RWH systems in Kumandimdaka as a low-cost, low-risk means to improve water security for villagers. RWH tanks (or JoJo’s) with the capacity to hold 5,000 or even 10,000 liters will capture rain run-off from rooftops of variables shapes and sizes.
Rainwater collection offers several advantages. It can help improve access to water across seasonal and meteorological variations in precipitation. It can be collected and stored nearby to dwellings, alleviating some of the labor burden from walking long distances to fetch water and freeing up time for other activities. Small-scale systems also lose less water to evaporation compared with large dams. RWH systems can store a surprisingly large amount of water (for example: a flat terrace of area 50 m2 in a region with an average annual rainfall of 600 mm could accumulate 30,000 liters a year). The volume is dependent on catchment (roof) area and the rainfall depth. Lastly, rainwater is generally considered a clean water source—often a better option than water from rivers, basins, or contaminated springs. It is salt-free and good for irrigation. However, pollution in the air, dirt or bird droppings from the roof, and contamination during storage (as a habitat for vectors or microorganisms/algae) necessitate that it is further purified via filtration, boiling, and/or chemical treatment before drinking. The LAND Project is currently determining the best means to ensure that water collected using RWH is potable for the local community.
Future water-security ambitions also include development of communal ‘water plazas’ to provide safe drinking water for livestock. This will be particularly useful once a community-organized managed grazing structure is operations.
Here’s to a more water secure future in Kumanzimdaka! Stay tuned for project updates in the near future.
*Rockström, J., Hatibu, N., Oweis, T., Wani, S.P. 2007. Managing water in rainfed agriculture. In: D. Molden, (ed.). Water for food, water for life: a comprehensive assessment of water management in agriculture. London, UK: Earthscan; and Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute. p 315– 348.
The LAND project 