Provide 18 farmers with irrigation for life

Last month, I met with the farmers of this project. Some who were just starting out and others who were part of our pilot project. It was incredibly moving to see the difference the drip irrigation systems had made on their lives. The farmer pictured below was part of our pilot project and told us about how this simple system had turned his life around - for him and his family. Before he had the drip irrigation system, he grew some maize but no vegetables. Without an irrigation system, he just let the monsoon rains 'flood' the land. This meant that the crop received a huge amount of rain some times during the year but many months without water at all. This resulted in a huge amount of weed and only a small crop. As a result, somestimes he worked making bricks in the punshing heat and sometimes he had to migrate to the cities in search of poorly paid labour work. This meant harsh living conditions and spending months away from his family. We met his wife and they both told us that the birth of their son had been very traumatic. He was away during this time and not able to return for over a month. Not only was his income very low but his quality of life was also suffering. 

With the drip irrigation system, its a very different story. He grows vegetables - three crops a year - and sells them in the market. His income has doubled as a result. In addition, he no longer has to leave his family - he stays home all year round. The amount of work he does has also reduced. The drip irrigation system means the 'drip' can be targeted at the crop and this reduces the amount of weeds. By irrigating with a drip system, the farmers also can walk on the ground. With flood irrigation, they had to just flood the ground, then wait for it to soak in and come back later for other tasks. 

We met with several other farmers and heard similar success stories. Most farmers we met had seen a doubling of income and an improvement in their quality of life - not just as a result of income but due to being able to spend more time with their family. We met with several farmers who are keen to become part of this project. Our project runs for three years and farmers will be gradually taken on as the other farmers pay back the loan for the drip irrigation system. 

There are two challenges for this project. Firstly, selling the produce. Farmers are often limited in options of where they can sell their produce. This is due to lack of transport and also a lack of knowledge about options. As a result, we are bringing in experts to help them form cooperatives, to access other markets and, hopefully, to increase the prices they get. I will report back on this in the next report. 

The second challenge is encouraging the farmers to repay once their incomes increase. We work with each farmer - assessing their own ability to pay back. Each farmer is part of a group - made up of farmers from their village or nearby villages. These groups help each other out and encourage each other to pay back so that the next farmer can get a drip irrigation system and see the benefits for him and his family. 

It was amazing to see the real benefits this project has brought to these people. The funds from this project bring real benefit to the farmers.