 Water scarcity affects more than 40% of the global population. Water scarce regions in particular struggle with crop failure, soil degradation, and if it rains, with floods. Land-based rainwater harvesting is one solution to the water scarcity problem. It entails the collection of water and subsequent storage in reservoirs or directly within the soil profile. This rainwater harvesting method can be classified into microcatchment and macrocatchment harvesting. In microcatchment rainwater harvesting, rain falls onto a small catchment area and flows directly to the adjacent cropped basin, where a single tree, bush, or row of crops is planted. The purpose of this is to store water in the root zone to provide enough water for the plants throughout the growing period. There are various ways of implementing microcatchment rainwater harvesting. One is strip catchment tillage, which consists of alternating rows of cultivated crops with rows of uncultivated grass. The grass acts as a catchment to collect rainwater and then drains it to the crops next to it. Contour or key-line barriers are constructed perpendicular to the slope. Their function is to intercept rainfall, encourage infiltration, and to reduce soil erosion. Barriers are built from vegetative material in trash lines, stones, or soil. Other cross-slope systems are swales and living terraces. Basin systems are closed diamond or square-shaped catchments, surrounded by low earth buns. Water falling into this basin is channeled to the lowest point, where ideally food trees are grown. In macrocatchment rainwater harvesting, the catchment area lies outside the application area. This means the rain is not collected where it is used. The land cover of the catchment area can be manifold, including cultivated land, roads, or settlements. Often the catchment area is located on a hill or mountain slope. To provide water in dry periods, the collected water can either be used for groundwater recharge or stored in open or closed systems like farm ponds or underground tanks. There are three broad categories of macrocatchment rainwater harvesting systems. The first are hillside systems. Here, water flowing downhill accumulates on barriers, where it is used for crop irrigation and groundwater recharge. In streambed systems, structures such as sand dams or check dams are constructed across temporarily flooded channels. They are built from upstream to downstream to reduce the force of the water flow, to infiltrate water, and to control erosion. Ephemeral stream diversion systems divert water from seasonally flooded channels to large low-lying areas, where the water infiltrates and provides enough moisture for crop growth. Land-based rainwater harvesting contributes to the reduction of soil erosion and flood occurrence, while also enhancing groundwater recharge. Where climate change and mismanagement threaten the availability of water as a resource, rainwater harvesting systems can help increase agricultural activity and thus food availability.