Half-moon terraces to fight soil erosion in Mahala

With 8 million Euro funding from the EU, the Aqua4Sudan partnership is implementing the project called ‘Integrated Improvement of Household Food Security in Gedaref, Kassala and Red Sea States, Sudan’. This project is an integral part of the larger Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) program of the partnership. The Aqua4Sudan partnership is led by ZOA and consists of 7 (I)NGOs. 

Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) has been working with the community in Mahala area (Gedaref State) to construct half-moon terraces as a way to harvest water mainly to improve pasture area for animals.

Mahala is a hill that surrounds five villages; erosion turned the hill into non – productive land. In discussion with State Ministry of Agriculture and the Catchment Committee it was decided to construct half - moon micro terraces along the hill through community participation.

Half-moon terracing is a technique to rearrange the soil in a way that water is better preserved. They are usually dug on gentle slopes and in areas that have less than 600 mm of rainfall per year.

IRW mobilized the community to participate in the digging of the half-moon terraces to restore the area back to its former lush green environment. When the rains fell, water was harvested in the half-moon terraces which resulted in reduced soil erosion and contributed to creating a suitable area of pasture for animals.

A total of 12,000 micro half- moon terraces were constructed on a total land size of 200 feddan.

The construction of these micro terraces is the first of its kind in the whole state of Gedaref. The terraces transformed the hill and has become the pasture area for the community. At the time of the construction, a temporary employment opportunity was created for over 400 people from the community.

After the construction of the terraces one community member said: “We did not know we can convert useless land to productive land. We are planning to plant trees on the hills and this is going to be the green area of our community; the whole process was very interesting and an eye opener for us”.

Khartoum, 20th August 2020