In arid Tete province of Mozambique, rural community-built sand dams store water for vegetable gardens that transform the lives of farm families.

Most parts of Northwestern Somaliland are arid or semi-arid. Water is scarce, acutely so during the summer months.

This has impeded the regions development for several decades in various ways: Agricultural productivity has been low, public health has suffered, and a big part of the workforce (largely women) has not been gainfully employed as they have to spend several hours every day just sourcing water.

Under its Integrated Community Development Program (ICDP), IFAD has supported the construction of 15 sand dams in the region since 2005. The sand dams substantially increased water availability in the region-- more than 1 million cubic metres of water is now available to over 6300 households, shallow wells in the area have been recharged, and agriculture has been boosted from a subsistence activity to a commercially profitable sector.

More info: http://www.ifad.org/bffs/proje....cts/somalia/communit
Produced by: MetaMeta
Year: 2014
Language: Somali and English
Region: East Africa, Horn of Africa

See more information at permaculturenews.org

Geoff Lawton looking at Industrial Agriculture and explaining the difference between it and Permaculture. From his DVD Permaculture Soils available at www.permaculturenews.org.

Geoff Lawton talks briefly about systems and themes.

Geoff Lawton briefly describes Permaculture systems and yield.

Geoff Lawton provides a brief overview of what Permaculture is.

This half hour video documents the ongoing work of Permaculture Gurus, Geoff and Nadia Lawton, in the Dead Sea Valley. It begins with the famous original 'Greening the Desert' five minute video clip, and then continues into Part II, a 2009 update to the 2001 original.

You'll get to see and learn about the original Greening the Desert site and see some of the spin-off effects of its influence throughout Jordan.

When there’s no soil, no water, no shade, and where the sun beats down on you to the tune of over 50°C (122°F), the word ‘poverty’ begins to take on a whole new meaning. It is distinct and surreal. It’s a land of dust, flies, intense heat and almost complete dependency on supply lines outside of ones control. This is the remains of what was once called the ‘fertile crescent’. It is the result of thousands of years of abuse. It is a glimpse at a world where the environment – whose services provide for all human need – has all but completely abandoned us. This is a glimpse at the world our consumer society is inexorably moving towards, as our exponential-growth culture gorges itself at ever-increasing rates.

The original Greening the Desert video clip has been watched hundreds of thousands of times and has been posted to countless blogs and web pages in the datasphere. Although only five minutes long, it has inspired people around the globe, daring the lucid ones amongst us, those who can see the writing on the wall, to begin to hope and believe in an abundant future – a future where our survival doesn’t have to be based on undermining and depleting the very resources of soil, water, phosphorus, etc. that we depend on. The work profiled in that clip demonstrates that humanity can be a positive element within the biosphere. Man doesn’t have to destroy. Man can repair.

For more information visit: http://permaculturenews.org/20....09/12/11/greening-th

Off grid water harvesting using ground gutters in regions of Kenya in Africa that get less than 12-13" of rain per year. Most of these are DIY systems that are custom made to specific regions.
Kenya Rainwater Association is engaged in the activity of helping water poor regions in Kenya harvest rainwater for farm and domestic use. This documentary shot in Baringo, Laikipia and Kiambu counties encapsulates its engagement with members of the communities in these areas.

In Marsabit County, Northern Kenya, Caritas Switzerland has, together with communities, constructed three rock catchment systems. In this region, there are no permanent rivers and the dry seasons can get severe. Moreover, not all groundwater sources are suitable for human consumption and people often rely on scarce and mostly unprotected water sources. Only about 35% of the population have access to safe water.
The rock catchments collect rainwater from large bare rock surfaces before it gets channelled to storage tanks. The three systems serve 3,500 people and can store a total of 2.34 million litres of water per rainy season. This covers for approximately three months of human water consumption.

More information: https://www.caritas.ch/en/what....-we-do/worldwide/cou
Short version of the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcfgZkA5uK0&t=16s