Enhancing drought resilience: evaluating the livelihood outcomes of a solar-powered water system in Hanzila Village, Southern Zambia
Increasingly severe and frequent droughts significantly affect livelihoods, agriculture, and water security in Zambia, particularly in the Southern Province. In response, the ACTION Grant Program collaborated with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Monze Town Council to implement a locally led init...
| Autores principales: | , , |
|---|---|
| Formato: | Informe técnico |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
International Water Management Institute
2025
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176150 |
| _version_ | 1855537558276014080 |
|---|---|
| author | Mweemba, Carol Amarnath, Giriraj van Koppen, Barbara |
| author_browse | Amarnath, Giriraj Mweemba, Carol van Koppen, Barbara |
| author_facet | Mweemba, Carol Amarnath, Giriraj van Koppen, Barbara |
| author_sort | Mweemba, Carol |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Increasingly severe and frequent droughts significantly affect livelihoods, agriculture, and water security in Zambia, particularly in the Southern Province. In response, the ACTION Grant Program collaborated with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Monze Town Council to implement a locally led initiative to build resilience against droughts in the Hanzila community of Monze district. The project emphasized community participation, from inception until completion, to create locally tailored and sustainable solutions. This led to the installation of a multi-purpose solar-powered borehole in September 2023, providing water for drinking and domestic use, irrigation, and livestock through ten strategically located taps.
In July 2024 an evaluation was initiated to assess the extent to which the project had met its developmental objectives of sustainably increasing the community’s resilience to droughts. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, the assessment revealed significant livelihood improvements. Reliance on unclean sources, such as scoop holes and open streams, was eliminated, with no household accessing water for drinking or domestic purposes from these sources. Households also reported reduced distances to access water and no longer spent time queuing. Furthermore, the proportion of households engaging in gardening activities increased from 23% to 69%, thereby enhancing food security, nutrition, and income. Additionally, 28% of cattle owners gained reliable access to water for livestock during the dry season, replacing the long trips they made to open streams.
When asked about remaining hardships, households furthest from the taps still faced accessibility challenges. Where wealthier households could finance the extension of supply lines to their homesteads, poorer households could not. Further, irrigators still missed in-field irrigation tools.
The study recommends scaling up similar locally led initiatives and technically supported models to ensure sustainable water security and climate adaptation for other drought-prone communities in Zambia. |
| format | Informe técnico |
| id | CGSpace176150 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | International Water Management Institute |
| publisherStr | International Water Management Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1761502025-11-07T07:59:49Z Enhancing drought resilience: evaluating the livelihood outcomes of a solar-powered water system in Hanzila Village, Southern Zambia Mweemba, Carol Amarnath, Giriraj van Koppen, Barbara drought climate resilience solar powered irrigation systems water systems borehole water infrastructure pumps water use drinking water domestic water livelihoods decision making local authorities villages rural communities Increasingly severe and frequent droughts significantly affect livelihoods, agriculture, and water security in Zambia, particularly in the Southern Province. In response, the ACTION Grant Program collaborated with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Monze Town Council to implement a locally led initiative to build resilience against droughts in the Hanzila community of Monze district. The project emphasized community participation, from inception until completion, to create locally tailored and sustainable solutions. This led to the installation of a multi-purpose solar-powered borehole in September 2023, providing water for drinking and domestic use, irrigation, and livestock through ten strategically located taps. In July 2024 an evaluation was initiated to assess the extent to which the project had met its developmental objectives of sustainably increasing the community’s resilience to droughts. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, the assessment revealed significant livelihood improvements. Reliance on unclean sources, such as scoop holes and open streams, was eliminated, with no household accessing water for drinking or domestic purposes from these sources. Households also reported reduced distances to access water and no longer spent time queuing. Furthermore, the proportion of households engaging in gardening activities increased from 23% to 69%, thereby enhancing food security, nutrition, and income. Additionally, 28% of cattle owners gained reliable access to water for livestock during the dry season, replacing the long trips they made to open streams. When asked about remaining hardships, households furthest from the taps still faced accessibility challenges. Where wealthier households could finance the extension of supply lines to their homesteads, poorer households could not. Further, irrigators still missed in-field irrigation tools. The study recommends scaling up similar locally led initiatives and technically supported models to ensure sustainable water security and climate adaptation for other drought-prone communities in Zambia. 2025-08-19 2025-08-20T09:10:52Z 2025-08-20T09:10:52Z Report https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176150 en Open Access application/pdf International Water Management Institute Mweemba, C.; Amarnath, G.; van Koppen, B. 2025. Enhancing drought resilience: evaluating the livelihood outcomes of a solar-powered water system in Hanzila Village, Southern Zambia. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 50p. (IWMI Research Report 192). doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2025.213 |
| spellingShingle | drought climate resilience solar powered irrigation systems water systems borehole water infrastructure pumps water use drinking water domestic water livelihoods decision making local authorities villages rural communities Mweemba, Carol Amarnath, Giriraj van Koppen, Barbara Enhancing drought resilience: evaluating the livelihood outcomes of a solar-powered water system in Hanzila Village, Southern Zambia |
| title | Enhancing drought resilience: evaluating the livelihood outcomes of a solar-powered water system in Hanzila Village, Southern Zambia |
| title_full | Enhancing drought resilience: evaluating the livelihood outcomes of a solar-powered water system in Hanzila Village, Southern Zambia |
| title_fullStr | Enhancing drought resilience: evaluating the livelihood outcomes of a solar-powered water system in Hanzila Village, Southern Zambia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enhancing drought resilience: evaluating the livelihood outcomes of a solar-powered water system in Hanzila Village, Southern Zambia |
| title_short | Enhancing drought resilience: evaluating the livelihood outcomes of a solar-powered water system in Hanzila Village, Southern Zambia |
| title_sort | enhancing drought resilience evaluating the livelihood outcomes of a solar powered water system in hanzila village southern zambia |
| topic | drought climate resilience solar powered irrigation systems water systems borehole water infrastructure pumps water use drinking water domestic water livelihoods decision making local authorities villages rural communities |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176150 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mweembacarol enhancingdroughtresilienceevaluatingthelivelihoodoutcomesofasolarpoweredwatersysteminhanzilavillagesouthernzambia AT amarnathgiriraj enhancingdroughtresilienceevaluatingthelivelihoodoutcomesofasolarpoweredwatersysteminhanzilavillagesouthernzambia AT vankoppenbarbara enhancingdroughtresilienceevaluatingthelivelihoodoutcomesofasolarpoweredwatersysteminhanzilavillagesouthernzambia |