Tanzania (MNN) ― A learning exchange program has helped Tanzanian farmers learn from farmers in Zambia. Christian Reformed World Relief Committee's Steve Michmerhuizen says they're partnered with a group that is teaching the concept of "water harvesting." Not a bad idea, considering this region is prone to food shortages. Is it successful? "Farmers work with a 100-kilo bag of grain as their measure. They used to harvest two bags of grain per acre, but now they're up to 20. This has proven to be a very effective method of enriching the soil and trapping the water, making those two things--nutrients and water--available to the crop the entire year while its growing."
In November 2006, Andrek Tembo, a farmer and partner with CRWRC in Zambia, came to Tanzania to share what had been working for farmers in his region. Tembo, Sengerema Informal Sector Association (SISA) staff, and Michmerhuizen took a number of Tanzanian farmers out to their fields and demonstrated conservation agriculture.
They dug a big deep hole, put a thick layer of dry leaves and compost in the bottom, covered that layer with a good layer of manure, and then filled the hole with soil. The intent is that when seeds are planted in the soil, their roots will eventually find their way down to the rich organic matter that holds rain water.
Though skeptical at first, word spread about the success of the program, and by the beginning of the maize planting season, 379 farmers living in three different areas decided to try it out.
What makes this work is that the farmers choose to be guided through the water harvesting process rather than be carried, learning for themselves. The women, too, are involved. They prepare all the fields each year. Now that the technique has proven successful in the region, SISA will be leading some focused teaching in small groups to introduce the concept to the actual labor force.
They will also encourage families to try the technique with other crops such as sorghum, millet, and beans to see how well it will work.
Michmerhuizen says with Christians partnering, they can eventually share the simplicity of their faith. "Their lives are very together with their land and their faith. We're working with them to improve their life so that they would have a more full life--a life more abundant. That is what Christ said we would have in Him."
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