Dambo Farming In Zimbabwe: Water Management, Cropping and Soil Potentials for Smallholder Farming in the Wetlands

A conference paper on water management in Africa.Rising population pressures in Africa have caused the agricultural use of wetlands to become increasingly important. Developing large surface irrigation infrastructures, as Asia did during the sixties and seventies, often proves to be too costly for Africa. This makes wetlands, with their relatively good water availability and high soil fertility, an interesting alternative for increasing food production. Wetland use offers economic advantages as well. Farming on wetlands is a labor-intensive process, while surface irrigation is capital- intensive