Water Wheel Jan/Feb 2026: Climate Resilience

Abstract

Growing resilience in Giyani: How climate-smart water projects are transforming rural livelihoods Teacher-turned-market gardener Delina Ngamba has been on something of a learning curve in recent years and her newlyacquired skills are bearing fruit. Swiss chard, spring onions and other leafy vegetables grow in abundance on the little co-op farm she and her husband run near Giyanyi, in north-eastern Limpopo. “We see… modern farming methods and tools are the future [for] our communities because you do not have to worry about removing weeds, having back pains while working, and using too much water and land,” says Ngamba. The bountiful harvests (and relief for weary bones) are thanks to lessons in hydroponics, ridge and furrow techniques, bagplanting, and water-quality testing, made possible by the Giyani Local Scale Climate Resilience Programme, which also financed the equipment to keep 0.5 ha irrigated on the 7ha Matsambo Ngamba Agricultural Co-operative farm.

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