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Development of a technological package for sustainable use of Dambos by small-scale farmers

Dissertation (PhD(Land Use Planning))--University of Pretoria, 2002.

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Other Authors: Laker, M.C. (Michiel Christiaan), 1939-
Format: Thesis
Published: University of Pretoria 2013
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Laker, M.C. (Michiel Christiaan), 1939-
author_browse Laker, M.C. (Michiel Christiaan), 1939-
author_facet Laker, M.C. (Michiel Christiaan), 1939-
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2001, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (PhD(Land Use Planning))--University of Pretoria, 2002.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/27777
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:39:18.126Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2013
publishDateRange 2013
publishDateSort 2013
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/27777 Development of a technological package for sustainable use of Dambos by small-scale farmers Laker, M.C. (Michiel Christiaan), 1939- rgbpmkt@zamnet.zm Daka, Angel Elias Small-scale farmers Dambos Technological package Development UCTD Dissertation (PhD(Land Use Planning))--University of Pretoria, 2002. The sustainable use of Dambos for crop production using a technological package is presented. Dambos which are known as vleis in South Africa and Zimbabwe, fadamas in West Africa and mbugas in East Africa are identified as potential environments and key-resource areas for alleviating poverty and hunger in arid and semi-arid areas where drought occurrences are characteristic and limit upland crop production. Dambos present themselves as environments with soil moisture potential and high water tables ranging from 50 - 100 cm below the ground surface for most part of the year. Particular difficulties arise in abstracting this water for use to irrigate crops in Dambos. Most small-scale farmers use a rope and a bucket to draw water from hand dug wells. These methods are labour intensive and thus limited lands are cultivated by small-scale farmers. This study has identified, modified and introduced a treadle pump as a technology for lifting water from shallow water tables such as in Dambos. The treadle pump also lifts water from rivers, swamps, wells and dams within a suction lift of 0-8 m to the intended place of use i.e. vegetable garden, domestic application, livestock watering and in construction. The study has further investigated and introduced the clay pot as a water saving device. The clay pot sub-surface irrigation technology saves between 50 and 70 % of water as compared to conventional watering can and bucket systems. This technology can combine well with the treadle pump by using the latter to refill water in the former, thus making it easy to fill the system once the water is depleted. The use of the treadle pump has demonstrated its impact on the society in many ways. Firstly: the small-scale farmer is now able to increase the size of his/her garden from 0.1 ha irrigating using watering cans/buckets to between 0.25 ha and 0.5 ha using the treadle pump. With this innovative way of irrigating, farmers have thus been able to diversify cropping. Secondly: farmers have been able to increase household income from a meager US$125 without a treadle pump to US$850 and US$1700 on a 0.25 ha piece of land with a treadle pump on a 300% cropping intensity (growing crops three times a year). This has helped the country reduce on imported vegetables and thus save the much needed foreign exchange. Thirdly: the technology has contributed to employment creation, notably from the manufacturing point of view where artisans are employed to make the pump and carpenters to make the wooden parts. On the output side for buyers (merchants/hawkers) and transport contractors who trade and transport the produce. The study essentially alludes to the great impact the treadle pump has made by noting the brand naming of the pump as 'Chova pump' by the small-scale farmers. Chova is a local name, which means to boost one's income or to pedal signifying the manner in which the pump is operated. Dambos, cover about 3.6 million hectares of land in Zambia and are suitable environments for application of the treadle pump. The potentials and limitations of Dambos are highlighted and the impact of their use using treadle pumps elucidated. Marketing of Dambo produce is discussed with respect to the adoption of the technology. The study notes that Dambos are highly accessible with no land tenure limitations. Thus the more than 800,000 small-scale farmers in Zambia have an opportunity to utilize Dambos for crop production and help reduce poverty and food insecurity at household level. Plant Production and Soil Science unrestricted 2013-09-07T12:17:45Z 2001-09-06 2013-09-07T12:17:45Z 2001-09-07 2002-09-06 2001-09-06 Dissertation Daka, A 2001, Development of a technological package for sustainable use of Dambos by small-scale farmers, PhD(Land dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://hdl.handle.net/2263/27777 > http://hdl.handle.net/2263/27777 http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-09062001-093813/ © 2001, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Small-scale farmers
Dambos
Technological package
Development
UCTD
Development of a technological package for sustainable use of Dambos by small-scale farmers
title Development of a technological package for sustainable use of Dambos by small-scale farmers
title_full Development of a technological package for sustainable use of Dambos by small-scale farmers
title_fullStr Development of a technological package for sustainable use of Dambos by small-scale farmers
title_full_unstemmed Development of a technological package for sustainable use of Dambos by small-scale farmers
title_short Development of a technological package for sustainable use of Dambos by small-scale farmers
title_sort development of a technological package for sustainable use of dambos by small scale farmers
topic Small-scale farmers
Dambos
Technological package
Development
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/27777
http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-09062001-093813/