Research DayRam Pump Irrigation Systems in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa: Impacts on Food Security, Health and Subsistence Agriculture
Maura Dwyer, MPH; Sharon Nappier, MSPH, PhD Powerpoint Slides During June 2006, the Johns Hopkins University chapter of Engineers without Borders (EWB-JHU), including two graduate students from the Bloomberg School of Public Health, conducted health indicator and exposure assessments of households in two rural communities in the South African Province, KwaZulu Natal (KZN). The assessment was a pilot study conducted in conjunction with the installation of sustainable ram pump irrigation systems to support vegetable garden cooperatives in the rural communities of Inchanga and Maphaphateni, within the “Valley of 1000 Hills” area. In June 2007, the team returned to KZN to assess the public health and community benefits of the June 2006 ram pump installations, as well to conduct baseline assessments in a new community, prior to installation of ram pump system. The follow-up assessment in June 2007 consisted of gardener and non-gardener interview-based household surveys, key informant interviews, observational assessments, and selected microbiological water testing. The surveys were conducted to evaluate the impacts of the irrigation systems on the well-being of the community in terms of increased food security, water usage, vegetable production and variety, and health status. Initial analyses revealed several positive outcomes associated with the ram pump intervention. The ram pump enabled gardeners to access the same volume of water for the purpose of gardening using significantly less time. Gardeners reported using this “extra” time for other household chores, and indicated that the ram pump system makes accessing water for their gardens “much easier,” particularly for older members of the garden. Injuries associated with carrying water also decreased. Further, the pump enabled gardeners to grow a significantly greater quantity of vegetables, and many respondents indicated that households were now actually growing a vegetable surplus. Most recently, in January 2008, EWB-JHU members worked closely with Zakhe Agricultural College (ZAC) to train local agricultural students to build and maintain the ram pump systems. Future plans between EWB-JHU and ZAC include a Development and Learning Center for Sustainable Technologies as a venue where small-scale farmers and international student groups can work, study, and learn from demonstration technologies such as the ram pump. Other applicable technologies that may be developed include organic waste bio-digestion and composting, crop rotation, and organic approaches to fertilization and pest control. Finally, EWB-JHU and ZAC have collaboratively developed a proposal to integrate community gardeners into larger co-operatives in order to provide a mechanism by which gardeners may bring surplus vegetables to markets as a means of generating income. Maura Dwyer is a DrPH student in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences with a focus on environmental health disparities. Maura’s dissertation research will involve assessing the effectiveness of community interventions to reduce environmental triggers of asthma in disproportionately burdened communities. While at JHSPH Maura has also worked with Engineers without Borders to help assess the impacts of ram pump irrigation systems in rural South African gardening cooperatives. Ms. Dwyer earned a BS in International Business from Villanova University and her MPH in International Health Promotion from The George Washington University. |
