Anti-Drought Technologies

Great Green Wall of the Sahara/Sahel is a wall of green plant, comprising of plants that can withstand desert condition and have some economic/agricultural value. The purpose of the wall is to halt the spread of the Sahara Desert. The following plants have been selected for building the Great Green Wall.

List of Plants Used for Green Wall (PDF)

Israeli Water Management Technology is water management systems developed in Israel and is the most advance in the world. Israel's ability to manage water has turned the desert green and has made Israel a food exporting country.

Desalination is the process of converting saltwater into freshwater. The process is energy intensive and produce brine, a concentrated salt by-product, which can be harmful to the environment.

Drip Irrigation is an irrigation technique that uses minimal water to water plants. The simplest example is an elevated bucket with hose attached going to plants, where via small holes, water drips at the roots or base of the plant.

Fanya Juu Terraces are a form of irrigation found mostly in Kenya. A ditch is dug and soil thrown atop forming hedges, to capture and retain water during the rainy season for use in the dry season.

Half Moon(Demi Lune) is an irrigation technique found in the Sahel, that captures and retain water for the dry season, shaped as a half moon.

Recharge Pit is a pit comprising of sand and gravel that is dug and re-waters boreholes, groundwater, wells, etc. It also does a bit of water filtering.

Permaculture Technology is a non-intrusive technology that tries to use natural forces to achieve an objective. Permaculture has been used to green desert, with techniques like swales.

Swale are irrigation mounds/ditches that is used to retain and capture water. It is a major component of permaculture.

Stone Lines are lines of stones used for preventing run-off causing soil erosion, while retaining water. It is found mostly in the flat Sahel. Stone lines are an old and traditional technique.

Sand Dams are small dams built on river beds during the dry seasons. The dams are able to collect sand which in turn stores water for the dry seasons. It is advocated as means of water harvesting for semi-arid areas.

Greywater is water from showers, washers, kitchen sinks, etc. It is not blackwater or water from the toilet. Greywater can be recycle for domestic use and farming. Evironmentally friendly and biodegradable cleaners and soaps should be used if greywater re-use is planned.

Manzanar Project is a project in Eritrea that is researching the use of mangrove plants as means of animal feed.

Mangrove Plants are plants that grow in sea water and high in protein and can be used as animal feed.

Water Harvesting is a process of collecting and storing rainwater for later use.

Works Cited

Rainwater Havesting implementation Network. Rain Water Harvesting A Practical Guide to Sand Dam Implementation.
La transformation silencieuse de l’environnement et des systèmes de production au Sahel : Impacts des investissements publics et privés dans la gestion des ressources naturelles. Half Moon(Demi Lune)(pdf)
Agricultural Alternative. Drip Irrigation for Vegetable Production. PennState:College of Agricultural Sciences Agricultural Research and Cooperative Extension(pdf)
Catchtail Gardens: a grand experiment in permaculture. Swale Building. retrieve 14-Aug-2011.

External Links: