Published in May 2025

For communities living in drylands, life can become incredibly difficult during the dry seasons. As water sources dry up and land becomes parched, many people struggle to get by. Speaking with Chipo, a farmer from Zimbabwe, we learn how sand dams are regreening environments and providing a vital resource to help people through increasingly dry periods.

Chipo Purira is a 45-year-old member of the Sivume community, who are found in the Matabeleland South province of southern Zimbabwe. She is a mother to three children and relies primarily on livestock farming for her livelihood. This had been a difficult experience for many years, as Chipo tells us herself:

"Usually this area is very dry and very hot. We have a water source around 6km away which we depend on to water all our livestock, but this dries up when there is no rain and the water evaporates because of the heat. This is a challenge for us and for our livestock’s health. For them to go all that long distance, they lose a lot of weight and many of them die."

The Sivume community not only had trouble with finding water for their livestock to drink, but also struggled to access clean drinking water for themselves. Chipo describes this issue in more detail:

"In our village there is only one borehole, which thankfully did not dry up during the dry season. However, the problem was that water from there becomes rusty during the dry season. Some people got ill and complained of stomach aches after drinking this water. Many people actually preferred to drink water from the river by digging scoop holes."

These challenges forced people to make difficult decisions about how they used the water available to them, leading to tough sacrifices for many. Chipo explains the strategies they would employ:

"We would reduce water consumption at home. We usually have small gardens, but during the dry season we stopped watering our gardens. We would also have to reduce washing. When it was dry, sometimes we could only wash ourselves once a month. We would try to plant crops during the rainy season, but mostly our crops would dry up without the rains."

With support from our partners in Zimbabwe, The Dabane Trust, Chipo and the Sivume community have constructed multiple sand dams in their local area during recent years. Chipo tells us that they have had a huge impact on their situation:

"Since we managed to build these sand dams there is hope. We see that our life is going to change. Right now it is dry here and there has been no rain, but we are not worried because we know there is water here. It has made a very big difference. We are very proud of all that we have achieved!"

Chipo Purira, member of the Sivume community, Zimbabwe.

One of the greatest differences, according to Chipo, is that the local community now finds it much easier to grow crops than before their sand dams were built. As she tells us:

"Now we know that there will be water for our gardens, so we can grow tomatoes and other vegetables like beetroot and carrots. It is a big change, now it is only a matter of how much energy you have to work on your garden! I would like to grow more vegetables to eat at home and some to sell. With water, I am sure that we won’t worry about losing our crops."

Chipo also shares with us how the local environment has changed following the sand dam projects in Sivume:

"We have a woodlot here now, so we can grow more trees. Before the project, you would see seeds in the bush but they would get washed away by the rains. Now we know that we can take those seeds and plant them to help increase the vegetation and reduce deforestation. We have also built soil bunds and gabions to reduce soil erosion. We saw them before but didn’t know what they were or what they were for! Now we know, we have learned a lot."

Reflecting on her experience of the sand dam projects overall, Chipo summarised her thoughts about how things have changed in her community:

"We are proud! Here in this settlement people are from different parts, but the project has improved our communication as a community. Mostly we kept to ourselves before, but through this project we had the opportunity to work together and get to know each other. Now we know everyone, we know who is sick and who has health problems, so you know when you see them you can help them. With water, we have no problems."

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Our current appeal: please donate what you can to help communities in Zimbabwe to restore degraded land with sand dams