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Photo-Narratives: Tanzania

Kahe Ward, Tanzania

Photograph and Narrative Provided by Chris de Bont

Most groundwater use for irrigation by smallholder farmers in Tanzania is individual. Although people share their shallow well or even their pump for free with neighbours, the infrastructure would be owned and controlled by one person or one family. This image shows a different set-up: a deep borehole drilled by a land owner who rents out most of his land to different farmers. The borehole is shared between the different farmers who use the irrigation water to grow a variety of vegetables. To facilitate cost-sharing and avoid conflicts or hassle over money collection, they rigged the pump so it can accommodate an external fuel tank (here in blue). Each farmer carries his own fuel tank when they want to irrigate. This means that although the borehole is operated by a collective of farmers, they have effectively minimized the challenges of sharing a groundwater resource.

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