The water level in her well has increased in volume, surpassing previous seasons. She now has adequate water for family consumption and continues to reap a healthy harvest on her plot. This is only one of the successes Lucia has noted at her residence.

Fifty-nine-year-old Lucia Zindimo lives in Musiringofa Village in Ward 11; Mutare lives with a family of ten, seven of whom are school-going children.

Lucia’s homestead was identified as a potential location for implementing resilience design structures during the community visioning process.

The criteria for selection included identifying households with poor soil fertility, inadequate water- for both consumption and irrigation, land degradation, and inadequate inputs for agricultural production. Lucia expressed interest in working with fellow community members in her own right, opening her residence for other farmers in Ward 11 to learn.

“I constructed a half-moon (bioswale) to recharge the well,” shares Lucia. In addition, five dead-level contours and bioswales were constructed to reduce the speed of water runoff, harvest, distribute, and allow the water to sink underground for crop use and recharge of water sources. At the homestead, greywater management structures for the bathroom and pots cleaning water were put in place, repurposing the water and redirecting it towards planted trees.

Lucia boasts, “These contours band water swales work very well at conserving moisture for my crops. The cowpeas, pumpkins, and maize I planted on the contours are growing well. The cowpeas and pumpkins are already ripe, and my children are going to school on a full stomach.”

The water level in her well has increased in volume, surpassing previous seasons. She now has adequate water for family consumption and continues to reap a healthy harvest on her plot. This is only one of the successes Lucia has noted at her residence.