OVERVIEW OF THE IMPACT OF MINING ON THE ... - IIED pubs

3.21.1.3 Pedology, agriculture and land use
Soils in the sub-catchment can be divided into two main groups:
• Moderately deep to deep sandy soils across most of the sub-catchment;
• Shallow, sandy soils on the hillslopes; and
• Deep deposits of rich alluvial soils on the river terraces flanking both banks of the Zambezi River.
Land use comprises a mixture of sparsely populated areas with subsistence agriculture and small administrative
centres, as well as larger commercial farming enterprises that are engaged in growing irrigated sugar cane,
cashew nuts and some cotton. Livestock consists entirely of goats and most families rely on fish caught from
the Zambezi River.
3.21.1.4 Surface water users
There is some consumption of water for small towns and communities, as well as for subsistence agriculture.
Irrigation of sugar cane and cashew nut plantations occurs closer to the coast, using water abstracted from the
Zambezi River.
3.21.1.5 Water management systems
The area falls under the jurisdiction of the Mozambican Ministerio De Aguas.
3.21.1.6 Human impacts on water resources (excluding mining)
The following could be expected to have an impact on water resources:
• Minor disposal of solid and liquid wastes at urban centres; and
• Non-point sources of domestic effluent in the urban and rural areas;
3.21.2 Mining and mineral processing operations
This sub-catchment hosts a few small prospecting operations and an extensive area of artisan mining (Table
3.21; Figure 3.4).
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