Watsan matters

Livestock, as part of agriculture, represents a threat towards the environment and is one of the main drivers for deforestation in the world, either from grazing, fodder and feed production.

The life cycle of livestock also requires large amounts of water and has a severe impact on the atmosphere of our planet.

If not properly managed, livestock production could cripple the life supporting systems of our biosphere and all other living beings sharing our planet.

Soil is the foundation of life. It is a medium for plant growth and a habitat for many insects and other organisms.

As much as 95 percent of all our food comes from soil.

Soil also plays a key role in filtering water and absorbing carbon.

Yet, what is the current state of the world soil resources?

Already about a third of the world’s soil has been degraded.

This is worrisome, as it takes 1000 years to generate only 3 centimetres of topsoil.

The causes of soil degradation include chemical-heavy farming, deforestation which increases erosion, pollution and climate change. If soil degradation continues to occur at the same rate, all of the world’s topsoil may be gone in as little as 60 years, according to the UN.

This is why practices that conserve soil, such as sustainable irrigation, agroforestry instead of traditional agriculture, the building of check dams and living terraces, among others, are increasingly important.

Irrigation has been practised worldwide for thousands of years and irrigated agriculture is one of the biggest users of water in the world.

Although irrigation systems and methods have developed through history, much improvement can still be done, especially with regards to water efficiency.

Freshwater has become a depleting resource and the demand for it is only increasing.

Looking ahead, climate change will cause more severe droughts and intensify pressures on water resources around the world.

Humans will continue to rely on irrigation for survival, so it is critical to reduce the pressure on freshwater bodies, while still maintaining crop productivity.

This is why sustainable irrigation is more than ever necessary.

Soil erosion is broadly defined as the accelerated removal of topsoil from the land surface.

It is a process that has a strong impact on economy, society and environment: almost ¾ of the Earth’s lands are in fact being eroded.

Different approaches exist to counteract erosion. Remediation techniques are implemented on already affected sites, while preventing conservation measures aim to protect the soil before the erosive action takes place.

Access to electricity is a key mechanism for the improvement of living standards and community services, for the reduction of poverty and enhancement of gender equality.

However, in 2016, 14% of the world’s population still lived without electricity, mostly located in rural areas of developing countries.

Off-grid and mini-grid systems are summarised under the term ‘distributed energy systems’ and provide a fast and cost efficient method for rural electrification.

Applicable technologies include solar photovoltaics, wind power, small hydro power and energy from biomass.

Those small-scale renewable energy systems offer significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts compared to fossil fuel energy generation.

Simply put, agroforestry is a combination of agriculture and forestry.

It represents the inclusion of trees or other woody perennial plants into agricultural systems, including crop and livestock production.

Agroforestry, unlike conventional large scale agriculture, has the objective of emulating natural ecosystems.

This helps realise a number of ecosystem services.

Those include the protection of soil against erosion and water-logging, minimising evaporation of water from soil and plants by decreasing wind speed, water protection through deeper and more extensive root systems and increased biodiversity.

Long term stability and productivity of agroforestry systems surpasses those of conventional monocultures or pasturelands as they tend to be more resilient.

However, the establishment of trees on farmland comes with certain challenges.

Soil is a vital part of the natural environment and it is in danger in many parts of the world.

Soil quality is very important, as good quality provides nutrients in adequate amounts and in proper balance for the growth of crops and plants.

Organic fertiliser offers a very good solution to enrich the organic content of degraded soil.

Kitchen scraps, garden waste or animal manure are some of the sources of organic matter.

An average person produces around 500 litres of urine per year, which makes urine one of the main excreta of human origin.

Urine utilisation can minimise diverse negative impacts on the environment.

Unlike faeces, urine contains no or very few pathogens and contains four important nutrients for plant growth: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and sulphur (S).

Therefore, the utilisation of urine does not only lower the pressure on wastewater systems, it also can replace in certain cases expensive mineral fertilisers.

Wastewater is a key feature of public concern, especially with increased issues related to water availability, sanitation, health and sustainability. Inappropriate use and inadequate management of wastewater pose a huge threat to social welfare and ecosystems.

In rural and peri-urban areas, decentralisation appears as a logical and sustainable solution to tackle wastewater management issues, as these systems treat and dispose relatively small volumes of wastewater, originating from single households or dwellings located in relatively close proximity with focus on the extraction of nutrients and energy, and reuse of wastewater streams.

Water is vital for the world.

Inadequate access and inappropriate management of water result in a wide range of ecological challenges, also impacting the most basic human needs on sanitation, food and drinking water supplies.

The knowledge on this planets hydrosphere is most essential as a pillar for a sustainable development and, especially, for reviving already water scarce regions.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) refers to ecological knowledge and practices of indigenous and local cultures.

Over centuries, people in diverse geographical positions relied on rainwater and developed indigenous knowledge and techniques to harvest rainwater.

Traditional Rainwater Harvesting is a process that requires the concentration, collection and storage of rainwater for a number of purposes.

Some examples of traditional rainwater harvesting include qanats, contour-bench terracing, spate irrigation, khuskhaba system, rooftop rainfall collection and cisterns.

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection and storage of rainwater that would otherwise run off.

The water collected in this way can be used for a myriad of both domestic and agricultural purposes.

Different types of systems are in use, depending on the scale, type of water use and the storage location.

Living terraces constitute a combination of erosion control measures on slopes.

Their aim is to provide effective erosion control and soil building, with minimal labour and maintenance. The entire structure, with both vertical and horizontal elements, consists out of living trees.

This greatly increases their stability and durability. At the same time, they provide a source of income in form of livestock fodder and green manure after only a few months.

This type of practice represents a sustainable method of erosion control, which can have a chance to serve the local farmers in developing countries.

Water is the limiting factor for food production in arid and semi-arid regions of the world, especially in areas where rain-fed agriculture dominates.

In these areas, land-based rainwater harvesting can be used to enhance crop yields.

These systems can also be used for stormwater management and flood control in areas with a high and unpredictable rainfall rate.

Additionally, they can be applied as an erosion control mechanism.

Check dams, or gully plugs, are structures built across channels to reduce erosion, by lowering water speed and accumulating sediments during floods.

They are often introduced in already degraded areas, where natural or agricultural vegetation cover was lost or not capable of holding the top soil.

Usually they are built in areas hit by intense runoff events, where conventional erosion control techniques are not sufficient.

Check dams need to be built at the right places, ideally where water can be directed to suitable areas for groundwater recharge.

In addition, work needs to be started in the upstream of a catchment in order to avoid destruction of the structures.

Due to their relative simplicity and easy implementation, they represent one of the most used stabilisation measures worldwide.

Aquifers are geological formations of saturated rock beneath the surface, through which water can move.

They act as natural filters and trap sediments and other particles, thereby providing natural purification of the groundwater flowing through them.

Almost all aquifers are, in fact, not underground rivers, in which the water flows freely, but rather it has to squeeze through pore spaces of rock and sediment.

Aquifer recharge occurs naturally through infiltration mechanisms.

However, due to changes in the vegetation cover and increasingly soil erosion, the infiltration rates tend to decrease.

The recharge of an aquifer can be managed by facilitating natural infiltration processes or by the construction of structures that maintain recharge artificially.