Dirimwe a mitigation measure to climate change.

The setting up of contour ridges to act as water reservoirs to enhance water alleviation in the
community is a mitigation measure to climate change, Prosuli has revealed.
As a way of regenerating the environment, the Promoting Sustainable Livelihood (ProSuli )
project has taught villagers in Silewu Ward 15 under Chief Nelukoba to brick back sources of
water in an initiative known as Dirimwe.
Speaking during a Dirimwe Festival held in Dete expert in agricology and permaculture Julious
Piti who is also the Director of Participatory Organic Research and Extension Training (PORET)
described the project as “land healing” and also as a mitigation measure to bring back the water
sources that have dried up.
“The project aimed at promoting local development in the context of conservation using
indigenous knowledge system to bring back the dried water sources. All the credit goes to the
community for embracing the initiative of land healing as it is witnessed by their efforts they
made during the course of the project. The project is permaculture as a way of managing the
environment and bringing back the biodiversity that the community had lost,” said Piti
Primrose Ncube a youth from Ward 15 who partook in the Dirimwe Project said the project is a
positive development which may yield results for normal rainfall patterns affected by climate
change.
“This is a collective development on conservation issues to regenerate the environment, we want
to turn this area which has degraded land into a forest through planting trees and grass. ProSuli
taught us that each contour will hold a capacity of 15 000 litres and as a community it will help
us to have adequate water sources although the area is prone to drought due to high temperatures.
she said.

The community is appealing for well wishers and other organisations to assist in erecting a fence
to protect water sources .
Dirimwe Project is a collective development on conservation issues to curb soil erosion and
bring back sources of water. The initiative is being supported by ProSuli to regenerate the
disintegrated land caused by human activities, by digging contour ridges.
ProSuli is funded by the European Union and partnered by Agricultural research for
development (CIRAD), National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Biohub Trust, NUST
and UZ.
In Hwange the organisations have repaired six boreholes in Silewu Ward 15 and solarized two
boreholes. They have also installed two gardens for livelihood nutrition sustainability. In the
Park they have set up eight solarised boreholes.