Traditional Methods of Agricultural Water Resource Management in Southern Africa

Africa is vulnerable to climate change impacts because of drought extremes, flooding, and overdependence on rainfed agriculture. Smallholder farming communities are the most susceptible to the adverse effects of climate change and, owing to resource constraints, are always away from the benefit of any emerging opportunities. Traditional agricultural water resource management methods are potential tools if they are effectively integrated into amending and enriching water conservation and management systems. Within the Southern African region, opportunities to increase food security and household incomes are missed due to inadequate agricultural water resources management, especially in rainfed systems. Evidence from the region shows that the traditional agrarian water management methods are known and have been practiced in the region. Though much has been published, these methods are scattered in several articles. A systematic review covering the Southern Africa region was done to document a compendium of traditional water resource management methods in agriculture water management. The findings indicated that traditional agriculture water resource management methods in Southern Africa could make a substantial contribution to rural poverty reduction if (i) managed and implemented effectively and (ii) hyphenated with contemporary methods of water management.