The use of the Shaduf water lifting device in the middle of the Sahara in south-western Algeria

Usto & Sud-Timmi, Algeria

A Shaduf in the Saoura region, Photo USTO

USTO and SUD TIMMI (Algeria) studied the use of the shaduf water lifting device within the context of an ingenious method of water harvesting in the middle of the Sahara in south-western Algeria.  They provide details of the process by which palm groves and gardens (Birda) are established and maintained in the face of constant invasion by windblown sand and droughts.

They also discuss the current problems facing desert garden and the use of the shaduf as a result of both ecological and socioeconomic and political changes in the region. SUD TIMMI provided, in addition, a detailed scheme for the rehabilitation of birdas and the shaduf with budget estimates and the sequence of operational steps.

Intensive agriculture activity and the intensive use of pumps are the main factors behind the lowering of the water table level. As water gets deeper, the traditional use of the water-lifting Shaduf is compromised. It has to be made bigger to reach deeper wells.