Copyright 1996

Human-powered Pumps 
for African Farmers 
Traditional arrangement for 
vertical wells 
The plight of many African farmers and
families in their search for water is well 
publicised in terms of disaster relief 
Yet in many areas there are small dispersed 
sources of shallow ground water, which 
constitute a considerable resource 
This is often not acknowledged by government 
agencies which think only in terms of large 
dams and perennial rivers
African farmers are both ingenious and
The failure of such schemes in many parts of
knowledgeable, and the work described here
Africa is well documented (Morris and Thorn,
builds on these indigenous skills The
1990) and there is little hope of significant
provision of effective and affordable human
expansion in this sector
powered pumps transforms the possibilities of
water supply for both small scale irrigation
Most of these irrigation schemes depend on the
and domestic use The field work was carried
utilization of surface water resources.
out predominantly in Zimbabwe, although
principally through the construction of dams
more recently the pumps described here have
There is grave concern over the use of such
been introduced in Kenya
dams because of their adverse impact on
health, their displacement of successful farmers
The need for water
and the severe limitations on their useful life
An adequate supply of domestic water is vital
due to siltation (Wright, 1986, Arlosoroff el al
for human health and hygiene Despite the
1984, Bell el al, 1987)
great progress made in the recent decade, the
achievement of the goal of clean water for all is
In order to develop groundwater resources a
still a long way off An adequate water supply
suitable water lifting technology must be
is also vital for the production of food In many
employed While much work has been done on