One of our rainwater harvesting techniques is digging bunds. Bunds are being dug in our projects in Africa. With bunds, we can regreen large areas of degraded land in a short amount of time, benefiting biodiversity, nature, people, and – eventually our climate.
Rainwater harvesting
Global warming and persistent droughts cause land degradation in many African areas. The top layer of the soil becomes hard, preventing rainwater from infiltrating into it, causing the rainwater to wash away over the dry, barren soil. One of our rainwater harvesting techniques is digging semi-circular bunds. Bunds allow the hard top layer to open up and retain the rainwater. These half-moon-shaped pits are also known as bunds - or as we like to call them: ‘earth smiles’.
Capturing rainwater
The semi-circular shape of the bunds is an optimal balance between the amount of water captured and the labor requirements. Bunds are dug on slopes, with the ‘closed’ side of the bunds directing downhills, so that they can capture the water that runs down the hill. The bunds do not only capture rainwater, they also make sure that the water running downhills in between the bunds is slowed down. Now the water also has a chance to enter the soil in between the bunds. Fun fact: bunds are about 2.5 meters long and 5 meters wide: the size of an adult elephant!
Vegetation
By capturing rainwater, the water balance is restored, and more water is available for the seeds present in the soil. These seeds now get the chance to sprout, which means: regreening! Sometimes we give the regreening process a little push, by sowing extra seeds within the bunds. In time, the area surrounding the bunds also gets increasingly greener because the vegetation becomes so extensive that it starts to spread and grow outside of the bunds, further increasing water infiltration outside the bunds.
Regreening the continent
Blooming bunds can contribute to the regreening of large parts of the degraded African landscape. Because of the tremendous success of using bunds to regreen areas, we’ve decided to develop specific ‘bund programs’: projects dedicated to digging bunds. These projects allow us to scale up the digging of the bunds and improve the sustainability of the bund project areas which means more vegetation and more certainty of a green future.
Regreening platform
Want to buy your own bunds? That's possible! On our regreening platfrom, you can create an account through and specify how many bunds you would like to buy. By doing so, you ensure regreening and directly support an African farmer who digs the bunds. You even receive a photo of your unique bund and experience the regreening process! This way, you have direct insight into what happens with your donation, and we save organizational costs by working directly with farmers in the field. Want to read more about bunds and our regreening projects? Check out our website! 
