Massinga, Mozambique — September 6, 2006 — "You have a massive program here," said one of the delegates from USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). "The size of these water catchments is amazing!"

He was describing one of the water catchments built by IRD with local workers in Massinga province to help preserve water from the rainy season for the long months of drought. When completed, each of the eight catchments will be the size of an Olympic swimming pool, lined with concrete. The president of Mozambique was so impressed with the success of the program in Massinga province that he asked representatives from all of Mozambique's districts to visit the project sites.

The project, funded by OFDA, is a multi-level program working with experts at the international, national and district level in order to mitigate the effects of a devastating drought that occurred in 2005 and 2006. Called the Harvest Program, the original grant of $550,000 was extended in late summer until December 1, 2006 for an additional $315,000.

In early September delegates from OFDA, as well as from neighboring provinces, visited the sites where IRD has been implementing the Harvest Program.

In addition to building the water catchments, the project has developed several other programs designed to relieve the effects of drought

For example 45 households in the province already have been trained in improved bee-keeping techniques. New methods include new and improved hives which are compartmentalized to make it possible to separate honey without damaging the whole hive and new methods of fumigation to sooth the bees during harvesting. The new hives, protected from wind and rain, will also help ward off ants and other insects.

A second important component of the program is training the local farmers in improving production of drought-resistant crops. Since the project began communities have planted 60 hectares of cassava and sweet potato, both of which are drought resistant. In addition the farmers have organized multiplication of crops, working in groups of ten to plant new fields. Drought-resistant cashews and pineapple havebeen planted on 50 hectares of land.

The third component is the building and usage of the large water catchments and installation of water pumping systems. The communities have begun prioritizing how the water will be used, starting with human consumption, water for livestock, and finally horticulture.

The combination of all three aspects of the program will allow each community to be able to diversify their livelihoods in order to overcome the possible devastation of future droughts.

"The real heroes of this project," noted Themos Ntasis, IRD's country director, "are the local workers, who hand dug and lined the water catchments. Now they will own and manage the tools they need to provide for their community."