Reports on sustainable flood mitigation pilot studies: Matidze near Mabalane, Mozambique.
Abstract
This report describes the development of a sustainable flood mitigation strategy for the village of Matidze in the Limpopo basin in Mozambique. A sustainable flood mitigation strategy is a strategy that can be implemented and maintained by a community to reduce the impacts of flooding on the livelihoods of community members.
Matidze lies on the Limpopo near the South Africa border, where the river valley is relatively narrow. The houses are above flood level. However, the main source of livelihoods is agriculture which is carried out on the Limpopo floodplain. There is thus a loss of crops during floods, and both people and animals are affected by poor quality drinking water when floods occur.
A series of meetings were held with the community to develop ideas for mitigating the impacts of floods. About 15 ideas were developed, some of which required external support to implement whereas others could be done by the community with external guidance.
Two of the most important mitigation measures, provision of drinking water during floods and pest-resistant seed, were implemented with external support and funding. This was done to help the community deal with some of the most pressing concerns, and stimulate the community to further improvement. The implementation work was carried out in collaboration with the Eduardo Mondlane University, the Department of Health, the Department of Agriculture and the local District Administration.
Citation
Sustainable Flood Mitigation Strategies Pilot Study 3, Wallingford, UK: HR Wallingford, 34 pp.
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