Lipumba is a village in Mbinga district in the Iringa Region of the Tanzanian Southern Highlands.

[1] Lipumba is located to the northeast of the town of Mbinga and lies off the A19 road which connects it to Songea in the east.

[3][4] The function of the pits is to prevent heavy rain washing away the soils on the steep slopes, acting as sedimentation tanks to trap green grasses, thus providing a source of nutrients for the following season.

[5][6] Their method involves a 2-year one-cycle rotation of crops, with a short-fallow period, generally maize, beans and peas.

For example, with maize farming amongst the Matengo, in November a farmer will make furrows of roughly 5 centimetres on the ridges and sow the seeds, and commence weeding in December.