The dry season is traditionally a time when farming ceases because of the unavailability of water, with the people of Lawra choosing to stock pile resources during the rainy season to tide them through. Anecdotal evidence collected from school students, suggests these resources similarly dry up long before the rain returns with some remote communities eating just four times a week during this period.


It is the third year that we have supported almost 70 men and women in Lawra to farm during the dry season. This provides year round income opportunities, reduces food insecurity, boosts crop yields, and improves the nutritional content of diets during the leanest time of the year. It is a simple yet powerful project that has real impact on the lives of these farmers, their families and in their communities too.

At the start of each new dry season we meet with the farmers to discuss the successes and challenges of the previous season, which gives them the unique opportunity to engage their peers for advice and guidance on how to improve their farms the following season.

Water availability continues to be a struggle for the two community farming groups we support. Their farms are in exceptionally rural locations where the river tributaries they use to water their gardens usually dry up by January. After this time, they rely on a rudimental well supplemented with water from the local boreholes – this is far from ideal and is incredibly limiting on what their farm can produce. This year we sought specialist advice from ATE supporter and agronomist, Siobhan Nell. She spent time teaching us water conserving planting techniques which could really revolutionise the productivity of the community gardens. It involves planting a plastic bottle, with both ends chopped off, into a hole with your seedling. Subsequent watering is then done directly through the bottle. This reduces the amount of water needed and makes sure that all the water gets right down to the roots where the plants want it! In such water restricted areas, this idea sounded fantastic!

I was excited to discuss these new techniques with the farmers! We made visits to each farm and invited representatives from each group to attend a workshop on how to tackle challenges, record profits and expenditure. We also took this opportunity to pass on Siobhan’s techniques with all the farmers attending our workshop, even the three farmers who work on the bank of the Volta River where water remains readily available throughout the dry season.

Understandably, the farmers are wary of deviating from what they know to be tried and tested. The community farmers live hand to mouth, and implement security measures against a poor harvest, such as crop diversification to protect against the loss of one crop failing. However, they are excited about the techniques we discussed and have agreed to test this new practise on crops they already plant from seedlings. It will require more time for each watering session but will allow them to use less water and leave longer periods between each watering session.

We know these farmers are not shy of hard work, because producing a garden full of vegetables during the dry season is almost back breakingly labour intensive. But we hope this new technique will increase the productivity of their farms, improve their crop yields and boost their profits – a position we hope they can build on year and year. As we move into the dry season, I am optimistic about the changes Siobhan’s watering techniques will bring and excited to hear about their progress!