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Paper short abstract:

Using the case of the ancient Nyanga terraces in eastern Zimbabwe, this paper examines the relevance of ancient systems of land and water husbandry to contemporary societies as well as future ones. It considers the possibilities of drawing lessons from this to combat climate change challenges.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines the relevance of ancient systems of land and water husbandry to contemporary societies as well as future ones using the case of the ancient Nyanga terraces in eastern Zimbabwe. The climate change debate has engendered debates about sustainable agriculture and water conservation across the globe. While new technological advancements in irrigation, water harvesting, and soil conservation are helping agricultural communities to enhance their harvests with the least impact on the environment, it is also possible to learn from ancient agricultural practices and to generate value from local knowledge and thereby increase acceptance of the measures applied by the local population. Sedentism among ancient societies generated the need to innovate in areas such as land husbandry, water harvesting, and post-harvest preservation of grain, among other issues. In drylands where rains were seasonal, the advanced water husbandry techniques ensured the availability of water for agricultural purposes and domestic use. The development of technologies to manage water resources for domestic use and for agriculture was one of the major advances that ensured sedentism especially in arid and semi-arid areas which relied on seasonal rains. The constructions of terraces, wells, canals, cisterns, weirs, reservoirs, aqueducts to store and transport water and manage soils for agricultural purposes are all technological advances in water husbandry that were developed among ancient societies and have left some archaeological signatures.