Dry-Season Gardening
The following article is a summary of a feasibility report produced by Gabriel Maanibe outlining the issues with, and support needed to encourage dry season gardening.
Gabriel’s brief was to examine the desirability and usefulness of ATE support for dry-season agriculture in Lawra District.
Globally, more than 1.2 billion people do not get enough food to meet their basic nutritional needs. The situation in Lawra District cannot be over emphasized. The majority of children go hungry during the dry-season, and it affects both their health and education.
Dry Season Gardening or agriculture refers to crop production during the dry season or in an arid or semi-arid climate by planting drought resistant crops or employing moisture enhancing techniques. For areas with especially low food security like Lawra District, dry season gardening can improve both agricultural productivity and household nutrition.
Some of the main issues found with Dry Season Gardening were a general negative community mentality, the need for abundant water sources, fertilisers and pest control, education and equipment. Basically, funding and encouragement are required to move forward!
At the community level, Dry Season Gardening engages a number of self-motivated and enterprising youth. These young people have indicated that they are becoming more responsible and respected in their communities because they earn money and are able to financially support the development of their community.
Successful farmers are self-motivated. In the the words of local people,
“A lazy person cannot become a dry season farmer!”
Community Perceptions of the Way Forward
There is a huge need for proper communication and coordination between farmers and the District Agricultural Department in order to get further technical advice on Dry Season Gardening.
Some groups of farmers are proposing the formation of farmer groups to enable them access to micro-finance institutions. This will enable them to expand their farms through added capital to buy pesticides, better irrigation equipment (like water pumps and drip irrigation kits) and gardening tools.
Many farmers are also calling for education programs in the areas of best practices, disease control, disease and drought resistant crops and pesticide use. This, they believe, will make them masters of their craft. Communities are willing to embrace any support ranging from technical to financial from any organization that recognize their efforts.
This could become an amazing new venture for ATE to lend its hand to!
To read the full report, click HERE: ATE Dry-Season Agriculture Feasibility Report.compressed (1)
We will keep you informed of our progress!!
By Julia Whimster ATE Volunteer