If you’ve
ever made a sandcastle on the beach and then tried to fill its moat you’ll know
that sand does not retain water. Indeed
on a hot day the surface sand on a beach can drain and dry out between each
tide. For beach picnics and sunbathing
this is great, but when the expanse of sand in question is covering farm plots
1,000 miles inland in western Uganda, it poses a problem.
If you read
my “D-Day” blog article (6/6/13), you’ll know that I’m referring to the massive
floods which devastated parts of Kasese in early May and the ensuing dilemmas
about how best to help the community of Congo Quarter where the Nyamwamba river
destroyed last season’s crops, turned about 1/3 of their farmland into
re-routed river, and covered most of the rest of their land in sand, 1m deep in
places. Traditional African rain-fed
agriculture is doomed to fail in sandy soil which drains faster than it rains.
After two
months of research, consulting experts, thinking, praying, a bit of practical experimentation
and another written proposal, I’m glad to be able to tell you that we’ve
started a project that will help the 340 residents of Congo Quarter to re-plant
their land this season and to get the best out of their sandy soil. Part of this is about applying some of the
improved farming methods with which BMS colleague Alex Vickers has achieved
great success with farmers in Gulu, northern Uganda (see http://www.bmsworldmission.org/news-blogs/archive/dignity-dreams-and-development-uganda-food-project-success); notably crop selection, targeted
digging, crop spacing, using natural fertilisers, and mulching. However, the crux of this project is about
turning a problem into an asset. In this
case the river Nyamwamba. Although the
river is responsible for so much agricultural destruction, it can also become a
source of salvation by providing enough water to irrigate the sandy soil
between rains . Using rivers to irrigate
crops is not new. The success of the
ancient Egyptians is probably attributable to their success in harnessing the
waters of the Nile, but irrigation is not widespread in Uganda. Moreover the geography of Congo Quarter makes
it difficult to employ fixed irrigation:
farm plots are higher than the river, there are uneven slopes, any
ditches would have to be lined to retain water, and the inherent instability of
the braided weave river means that it could re-route itself again next season so
any irrigation ditches or fixed pumps could be either completely flooded or
left dry. The solution had to be a pump
which can lift water 2m from river to bank, push it 100m along a hose to peoples’
plots, be easily set up anywhere along the river bank and not require expensive
fuel or non-existent electricity or working-animals to operate.
Following
helpful discussions on Skype with Richard Cansdale, a retired British water
engineer who worked extensively with “Rower” pumps in Nigeria and Bangladesh in
the 1970s and 80s, we then discovered a newer version of much the same design
right here in East Africa; Kickstart’s “Moneymaker
Hip Pump”, manufactured and used widely in Kenya and Tanzania and also sold in
Uganda and Rwanda. When combined with an
exact list of 42 households in Congo Quarter and the size of plot available for
them to farm, compiled by local leaders, this was enough to submit a project
proposal to BMS. I’d like to offer a big
thank you to all of you who contributed to the BMS Disaster Relief Fund
following our earlier posts about the Kasese Floods. They come up trumps with a quick grant of
£1,250 with which to deliver this project during this planting season, which
has just started. Then all I had to do
was make 3 different measuring ropes for accurate crop spacing, purchase a
large quantity of seeds of different types and weigh and subdivide them into ¼
acre bags, produce a training sheet and translate it into Swahili (a first for
me) and get hold of, and test, the 6 pumps and hoses. With assistance from the ever helpful Isaiah,
we got these jobs done and went to Congo Quarter last Thursday to deliver the
pumps and the training.
We delivered
the training on the banks of the river with as much practical demonstration as
possible. Holes were dug to reveal the
good soil beneath the sand in which to add manure and plant seeds, measuring
ropes were used to space hole intervals, and grasses were used to demonstrate
mulching. We rigged up 2 hip pumps by
the river, one with longer (100m) and one with shorter (50m) hoses so everyone
could try using them. Pr Alex translated
for me and the elected Local Chairmen (LC1 & LC2) were very helpful in the
practical demonstrations and dealing with questions and queries, so it was all
going well with people amazed at the water pressure generated by simple hand
pumps and their potential for irrigating their land. Pr Alfonse was also with us and as we started
to discuss moving from the training to the seed distribution a heated argument
arose, mostly in Lukhongo, which I don’t understand. I must confess that my immediate reaction was
to wonder why Alfonse seemed to be provoking trouble during an amicable and successful
day. However, I’ve known Alfonse long
enough to know that he’s rarely wrong, has an aptitude for sniffing out
discrepancies of which I’m often blissfully unaware, and has the real Christian
gift of advocating for the voiceless. We
agreed to postpone the seed distribution until the following week.
There seemed
to be two threads to the argument: One
was over the fact that some people had already cleared their land ready for
planting, as they had been requested to do by the LC1, while others hadn’t,
probably waiting to see with their own eyes the project they’d heard about
before committing their labour. This was
easily resolved. Having seen the
pumps in action they know for sure that we are “serious” – a big deal here in
Uganda. They then had a few days to get
to work on their land. The other issue
is harder. The list of names and
dimensions of plots we were given was signed and stamped by the LC1, LC2 and
LC3, who in Uganda’s highly decentralised system of government, are the locally-elected
officials for Congo Quarter at sub-parish, parish and sub-county level. It is difficult to get a document more
official than that, but that doesn’t necessarily guarantee its integrity. One of the local landowners was “proving stubborn”
about sharing some of his land with those who had lost their entire plots to
the new riverbed as had been previously agreed, and another was alleging that
the LC1 and LC2 had put “their people” on the list at the expense of other
residents. Land ownership is complex in
Africa, highly politicised, and best not interfered with by white people who
have a shameful track record regarding African land. I had to trust that Pastor Alex and Isaiah
could mediate between the local officials and their community members and to
pray that God would ensure that a new list could be produced which was honest,
accurate and endorsed by everyone involved.
Thankfully I
got the call last night that these issues had been resolved and so we headed
back into Congo Quarter today with a big box of seeds for tomatoes, aubergines,
peppers and okra, specially selected as locally popular and suitable for sandy
soil. It was wonderful to see a hive of
activity with plots that had been cleared in the last few days and other people
working hard at digging theirs. It
turned out that there was nothing quite as sinister as had been insinuated last
week. There was some confusion over
plots that had been listed under the name of one spouse rather than the other,
or accidentally under both names, and also over some plots that were held by
people who reside outside Congo Quarter, but have always farmed there. Suffice to say that it all got cleared up to
everyone’s satisfaction and we distributed seeds to 28 households today with
the promise to return for another 10 once they’ve prepared their land.
Prayer
Requests:
1. Give thanks for the BMS Disaster
Relief Fund and all who contributed to it so that a swift grant was available
to help the people in Congo Quarter who have suffered so much.
2. Give thanks for the clever and
affordable practical technologies such as “Kickstart’s” pumps and the chain of
websites, conversations, and emails which lead me to them.
3. Pray for wisdom, commitment and
integrity for the local leaders and pastors who have the day-to-day responsibility
for making this project work by ensuring equitable access to the pumps,
encouraging farmers to use the methods we’ve suggested, and helping the elderly
or sick to get their plots cleared and planted in time.
4. Pray that this project will enable
the people of Congo Quarter to regain their farming livelihoods and provide for
their families, and that in doing so they fulfil Isaiah 12.3-4 (NIV):
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
In that day you will say “Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done and proclaim that his name is exalted."
