Road Runoff Harvesting
Musyoka Muindu, Mwingi Town, Mwingi District, Kenya
Kenyan Musyoka Muindu, 70, has developed a way of harvesting road runoff water and distributing it to his cultivated fields using various types of banks and channels. The owner of a 10-hectare plot, Musyoka grows maize, pigeon pea and beans apart from other crops such as citrus, bananas and grape vines. Besides this, he also keeps livestock. His farm lies by the side of the main Nairobi tarmac road, 10 km out of Mwingi town, Kyethani district. To ensure family food security after retirement – and to boost his pension – he embarked on what other land users in the area considered impossible at first: harvesting runoff water from the road using modified and enlarged fanya chini (a channel with the earth thrown down slope) and fanya juu terraces (embankment above the channel). His experience has sensitised him to the impact of extra moisture, and has made him aware of the need to utilise runoff water that would otherwise be wasted.
In Western Gujarat and some parts of Saurashtra also, farmers have harnessed road side water for well recharge rather than taking it directly into the field. -Ed. Vol 12(3) Jul-Sep 2001
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