Rainwater harvesting - an alternative for securing food production under climate variability

2004 ◽  
Vol 49 (7) ◽  
pp. 157-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. Zhu ◽  
Y. Li
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Rainwater Harvesting ◽  
Farming Practices ◽  
Rainfed Agriculture ◽  
Harvesting Systems ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Dry Farming ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Artificial Water

Food insecurity is still a challenge in some remote and mountainous areas in China. When studying the impact of climate variability on food production, we should pay even more attention to the rainfed area. This is because the larger part of agriculture is the rainfed one and climate variability has more negative impacts on the rainfed agriculture than on the irrigated one. The traditional dry farming practices based on the principle of storing as much rain in the soil as possible and making best use of soil water could not bridge the gap between the time that the crop needs water and the time that rain occurs, so its effects on enhancing food production under climate variability is limited. Combining artificial water supply from rainwater harvesting systems with the traditional dry farming practices is an innovation in water management in rainfed agriculture. Experiences in the recent two decades indicate that rainwater harvesting irrigation can well mitigate the drought caused by the climate variability and bring the rainfed agriculture to a new level.

South Africa’s increasing climate variability and its effect on food production

2021 ◽  
pp. 003072702110049
Author(s):  
Mashudu Tshikovhi ◽  
Roscoe Bertrum van Wyk
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Fixed Effects Panel Regression ◽  
The Impact

This study examines the impact of increasing climate variability on food production in South Africa, focusing on maize and wheat yields. A two-way fixed effects panel regression model was used to assess the climate variability impacts, analysing secondary data for the period 2000 to 2019 for nine provinces in South Africa. The study found that increasing climate variability has a negative impact on maize and wheat production in South Africa. Specifically, the results indicated a negative correlation between mean annual temperature with both maize and wheat yields. A decrease in precipitation affected maize yields negatively, while the impact on wheat yields was positive, although insignificant. This analysis, therefore, depicted that crop yields generally increase with more annual precipitation and decrease with higher temperatures. The study recommends that funding initiatives to educate farmers on increasing climate variability and its effects on farming activities in South Africa should be prioritised.

scholarly journals An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Two Rainwater Harvesting Systems Located in Central Eastern Europe

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Stec ◽  
Martina Zeleňáková
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Net Present Value ◽  
Rainwater Harvesting ◽  
Payback Period ◽  
Practical Aspect ◽  
Financial Ratios ◽  
Present Value ◽  
Toilet Flushing ◽  
Harvesting Systems ◽  
The Impact

Decentralized water systems are perceived as solutions that not only save water, but also as a way to partially or completely become independent from centralized suppliers. Taking this into account, an analysis of the effectiveness of rainwater harvesting systems (RWHS) for toilet flushing in existing academic facilities located in Poland and in Slovakia was carried out. The tests took into account the different volumes of storage tanks collecting rainwater. On the basis of two financial ratios, namely Net Present Value and Discounted Payback Period, the profitability of these systems was also assessed. The research was extended by the sensitivity analysis, which allowed determination of the impact of changes in individual cost components on the financial effectiveness of the investments considered. The results obtained clearly showed that the implementation of RWHS in the dormitory in Rzeszów was unprofitable for all tank capacities tested, and the payback period significantly exceeded the period of 30 years accepted for the analysis. Completely different results were obtained for RWHS in a dormitory located in the city of Košice, for which the financial ratios NPV (Net Present Value) and DPP (Discounted Payback Period) were very favorable. It was also confirmed by the results of the sensitivity analysis. The use of rainwater for toilet flushing caused that it was possible to achieve water savings of an average of 29% and 18%, respectively, for facilities located in Slovakia and Poland. The results of the research have a practical aspect and can provide an indication for potential investors and managers of academic facilities, similar to those analyzed in the article. Taking into account that in many countries water and sewage rates are significantly higher than in Poland and Slovakia, the cost-effectiveness of using the analyzed installation options in these countries could be even higher.

scholarly journals Determining spatial variability of dry spells: a Markov-based method, applied to the Makanya catchment, Tanzania

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 2161-2170 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. M. C. Fischer ◽  
M. L. Mul ◽  
H. H. G. Savenije
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Rainwater Harvesting ◽  
World Population ◽  
Rainfed Agriculture ◽  
Crop Failure ◽  
Dry Spells ◽  
Supplementary Irrigation ◽  
Dry Spell ◽  
Key Indicators

Abstract. With a growing world population and a trend towards more resource-intensive diets, pressure on land and water resources for food production will continue to increase in the coming decades. Large parts of the world rely on rainfed agriculture for their food security. In Africa, 90% of the food production is from rainfed agriculture, generally with low yields and a high risk of crop failure. One of the main reasons for crop failure is the occurrence of dry spells during the growing season. Key indicators are the critical dry spell duration and the probability of dry spell occurrence. In this paper a new Markov-based framework is presented to spatially map the length of dry spells for fixed probabilities of non-exceedance. The framework makes use of spatially varying Markov coefficients that are correlated to readily available spatial information such as elevation and distance to the sea. The dry spell map thus obtained is compared to the spatially variable critical dry spell duration, based on soil properties and crop water requirements, to assess the probability of crop failure in different locations. The results show that in the Makanya catchment the length of dry spell occurrence is highly variable in space, even over relatively short distances. In certain areas the probability of crop failure reaches levels that make rainfed agricultural unsustainable, even close to areas where currently rainfed agriculture is successfully being practised. This method can be used to identify regions that are vulnerable to dry spells and, subsequently, to develop strategies for supplementary irrigation or rainwater harvesting.

scholarly journals Assessment of Rainwater Harvesting Systems in Poor Rural Communities: A Case Study from Yatta Area, Palestine

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nibal Al-Batsh ◽  
Issam Al-Khatib ◽  
Subha Ghannam ◽  
Fathi Anayah ◽  
Shehdeh Jodeh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Rainwater Harvesting ◽  
World Health ◽  
Water Network ◽  
Catchment Areas ◽  
Harvesting Systems ◽  
One Year ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

Yatta is a town located nine kilometers south of Hebron city in the West Bank of Palestine. The town houses over 100,000 people of which 49% are females and has a population that doubles every 15 years. Yatta has been connected to a water network since 1974 serving nearly 85% of its households. The water network is old and inadequate to meet the needs of the population. Water supply made available to the area is limited, estimated at 20 L/capita/day. Residents are thus forced to rely on water vendors who supply water that is 400% more expensive with a lower quality compared to municipal water. Therefore, rainwater harvesting is a common practice in the area, with the majority of households owning at least one cistern. Rainwater harvesting is of great socio-economic importance in areas where water sources are scarce and/or polluted. In this research, the quality of harvested rainwater used for drinking and domestic purposes in Yatta was assessed throughout one year. A total of 100 samples were collected from cisterns with an average capacity of 69 m3, which are adjacent to cement-roof catchment areas of 145 m2 average surface area. Samples were analyzed for a number of parameters including temperature, pH, alkalinity, hardness, turbidity, total dissolved solids, NO3, NH4, chloride and salinity. Results showed that most of the rainwater samples were within World Health Organization (WHO) and Environment Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines for chemical parameters. Microbiological contents such as total Coliforms and faecal Coliforms bacteria were tested. The research also addressed the impact of rainwater harvesting systems on different socio-economic attributes of the local community through a questionnaire that had been filled out before any sample was collected.

scholarly journals The Web-GIS TRIG Eau Platform to Assess Urban Flood Mitigation by Domestic Rainwater Harvesting Systems in Two Residential Settlements in Italy

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7241
Author(s):  
Anna Palla ◽  
Ilaria Gnecco
Keyword(s):  
Rainwater Harvesting ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Low Impact Development ◽  
Web Gis ◽  
Urban Flooding ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Urban Catchment ◽  
Urban Flood ◽  
Harvesting Systems ◽  
The Impact

Urban flooding has become one of the most frequent natural disasters in recent years, and the low-impact development (LID) approach is currently recognised as an alternative to traditional grey infrastructure to mitigate the negative impact of urbanisation on hydrological processes. The main objective of the present research was to develop a web-GIS platform in order to assess the impact of LID systems on mitigating urban flooding and to support their implementation at the urban catchment scale. The TRIG Eau platform, developed in the framework of the homonymous INTERREG MARITTIMO IT-FR project, is configured as a web-GIS application of the stormwater management model (SWMM). Urban flood conditions were examined for two case studies in Liguria and Tuscany (IT), where DRWH systems are proposed as a mitigation strategy. The presented results and their visualisation showcase the potential of the TRIG Eau platform to better support the implementation of LIDs. Findings from the flood analysis confirm that even for the 10-year return period event, DRWHs are effective in reducing network stress by more than 70% in cases of empty tanks, thus underlining the need for RTC technology to pre-empty the system.

scholarly journals Climate variability, crop and conflict: Exploring the impacts of spatial concentration in agricultural production

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-113
Author(s):  
Paola Vesco ◽  
Matija Kovacic ◽  
Malcolm Mistry ◽  
Mihai Croicu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Grid Cell ◽  
Climate Extremes ◽  
Spatial Concentration ◽  
Spatial Differences ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Production Concentration ◽  
The Impact

Although substantive agreement exists on the role of climate variability and food scarcity in increasing violence, a limited number of studies have investigated how food resources affect violent conflict. This article explores the complex linkages between climate variability, agricultural production and conflict onset, by focusing on the spatial distribution of crop production in a cross-country setting. We hypothesize that spatial differences in crop production within countries are a relevant factor in shaping the impact of climate variability on conflict in agriculturally -dependent countries. To test this hypothesis, we rely on high-resolution global gridded data on the local yield of four main crops for the period 1982–2015 and aggregate the grid-cell information on crop production to compute an empirical indicator of the spatial concentration of agricultural production within countries. Our results show that the negative impacts of climate variability lead to an increase in the spatial concentration of agricultural production within countries. In turn, the combined effect of climate extremes and crop production concentration increases the predicted probability of conflict onset by up to 14% in agriculturally dependent countries.

scholarly journals Determining spatial variability of dry spells – a Markov based method, applied to the Makanya catchment, Tanzania

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 11707-11731
Author(s):  
B. M. C. Fischer ◽  
M. L. Mul ◽  
H. H. G. Savenije
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Rainwater Harvesting ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
World Population ◽  
Rainfed Agriculture ◽  
Crop Failure ◽  
Dry Spells ◽  
Supplementary Irrigation ◽  
Dry Spell

Abstract. With a growing world population and a trend towards more resource intensive diets, pressure on land and water resources for food production will continue to increase in the coming decades. Large parts of the world rely on rainfed agriculture for their food security. In Africa, 90% of the food production is from rainfed agriculture, generally with low yields and a high risk of crop failure. One of the main reasons for crop failure is the occurrence of dry spells during the growing season. Key indicators are the critical dry spell duration and the probability of dry spell occurrence. In this paper a new Markov-based framework is presented to spatially map the probability of dry spell occurrence. The framework makes use of spatially varying Markov coefficients that are correlated to readily available spatial information such as elevation and distance to the sea. This map is then related to the critical dry spell duration, based on soil properties and crop water requirements, to assess the probability of crop failure. The results show that in the Makanya catchment the probability of dry spell occurrence is highly variable in space, even over relatively short distances. In certain areas the probability of crop failure reaches levels, which makes rainfed agricultural practices unsustainable, even close to areas where currently rainfed agriculture is successfully practiced. This method can be used to identify regions that are vulnerable to dry spells, and subsequently to develop strategies for supplementary irrigation or rainwater harvesting.

scholarly journals Resilient rainfed technologies for drought mitigation and sustainable food security

MAUSAM ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-182
Author(s):  
CH. SRINIVASA RAO ◽  
K. A. GOPINATH
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Rainwater Harvesting ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Rainfed Agriculture ◽  
Drought Mitigation ◽  
Drought Preparedness

Even though drought is one of the most common features affecting rainfed agriculture, it is necessary to consider it as an extreme climatological event that requires different types of alleviating strategies for overcoming it. The risk involved in successful cultivation of crops depends on the nature of drought (chronic and contingent), its probable duration, and frequency of occurrence within the season. These aberrations are expected to further increase in future. A significant fall in food production is often noticed with increase in intensity or extension in duration of drought prevalence. Drought affects not only the food production at farm level but also the national economy and overall food security. Location-specific rainfed technologies are available to cope with different drought situations. Much of the research done in rainfed agriculture in India relates to conservation of soil & rainwater and to drought proofing. The key technologies for drought mitigation are in situ moisture conservation, rainwater harvesting and recycling, resilient crops and cropping systems including contingency crop plans, foliar sprays, and integrated farming systems. However, drought preparedness and real time implementation of contingency measures at field level needs well structured institutional support for farmers with strong government policy and convergence among various institutions. Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, needs to facilitate the convergence process of various government schemes such as MGNREGA, RKVY, Mega Seed Project, NFSM, NHM, IWMP, Soil health schemes etc. for drought preparedness. National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), one among the missions under the Prime Minister National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC) may take a lead role in implementation of contingency, by inclusion of this activity in State Action Plans (SAP) with a dedicated Nodal Institution /officers and budget provision.

scholarly journals Impacts of Increased Climate Variability on the Profitability of Midwest Agriculture

1999 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 537-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce L. Dixon ◽  
Kathleen Segerson
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Climate Variability ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
County Level ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Profit Functions ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
The Impact

AbstractApproximate profit functions are estimated using time-series, cross-sectional, county level data for 12 midwest states. Measures of climate variability are included in the profit functions. Simulated impacts of climate changes on profits are derived. Results show that inclusion of measures of climate variation are important for measuring the impact of changes in mean temperature and precipitation levels. Failure to account for the impact of differences in variability leads to an overestimate of damages. If global warming increases diurnal variation, such increases would have negative impacts on the profitability of midwest agriculture.

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