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The lay of the land
Aug 18, 2007 By: Crystal Crimi(Originally published May 8, 2006)
ZAMBIA — Robert Mwanza’s irrigation system looks like a wooden bicycle without wheels, connected by hose to a well he dug by shovel.
For the small-scale, Zambian farmer, the leg-powered pump means he can feed his family and send his kids to school.
In a white, button-up shirt, pants rolled just below his knees and flip-flops, Mr. Mwanza leads his small group of visitors from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Metroland Community Newspapers through his two-hectare farm. Here, under the hot African afternoon sun, he displayed coffee beans he harvests by hand, maize corn, paprika, Zambian eggplant, tomatoes and more, as well as the treadle pump he pedals to irrigate his crops.
Without the pump, introduced by the International Development Enterprises (IDE), Mr. Mwanza and his family would have to water each plant on the property every day by hand. According to IDE, most treadle pump farmers increase their income from $200 to $1,000 per quarter hectare per season.
“His kids are now in school,” said Peter Lungu, IDE deputy country director in Zambia, while sitting with Mr. Mwanza on a small wooden stool under the shade of a tree.
Close by, Mr. Mwanza’s children run and play near the thatched-roof huts and tiny brick house they live in along with Mr. Mwanza’s mother, his brother and his family. His wife sits on a patch of grass near the centre of the huts and brick house, laundry hanging from a clothesline behind her.
“He can now take his kids to the hospital,” Mr. Lungu continues, translating for the farmer, who speaks one of the country’s many local languages and little English.
“And food at home,” says Mr. Mwanza.
“They are now self-sufficient,” Mr. Lungu adds.
Mr. Mwanza says he has been a farmer since he was born and has never gone to school. He is one of the many people IDE and Canada have helped to improve their economic standing.
Beginning in 1997, IDE, a non-government organization, began working in Zambia with a mission to assist small farmers in growing more than just enough to feed their families.
In 1998, CIDA provided almost $125,000 per year (Canadian) to the Manual Irrigation Program in Zambia. The funding was provided on an annual basis until 2002, then from 2002-2005, CIDA provided three year funding, which just ran out Jan. 31, 2006. The money helped IDE provide irrigation system demonstrations to farmers, implement pumps and go to farms to meet and work with farmers. Although the funding amount is not huge compared to some of its other current donors, Mr. Lungu referred to CIDA as the backbone of IDE’s Zambia irrigation project because it provided support first, before the program’s success attracted other agencies.
“If CIDA hadn’t given us that initial kick, we would still be where we were in 1997,” said Mr. Lungu.
Along with originally acting as a pre-financing organization to local manufacturers of the pumps, IDE also worked on stimulating the agricultural market to raise income for farmers so they could afford new technology. IDE introduced more post-harvest crops, such as paprika, and ways to improve produce quality to increase competitiveness with South Africa. In some cases, it was a matter of showing farmers how to plant carrots so they grew straight, said Mr. Lungu.
Paul Slomp, a project liaison officer for IDE and a member of Engineers Without Borders Canada, said IDE has shifted its efforts from selling pumps to showing farmers how to maximize the benefits of the equipment.
Another IDE project Mr. Mwanza has embarked upon is using organics instead of fertilizer. Because Zambians farm the same piece of land continuously, using fertilizer can have long-term negative impacts and eventually cause the soil to lose its ability to maintain nutrients.
“The issue of fertilizer dependence is all over the country,” said Isaac Ntambo, IDE monitoring and evaluation coordinator. He said many are in the mindset that fertilizer is better.
But, so far, Mr. Mwanza’s crop in the organic compost and chicken manure mixture has grown better than the crop he also has in fertilizer.
With IDE’s help, Mr. Mwanza would like to provide more HIV/AIDS education to those on his farm. With three people alternating on the treadle pump, if one gets sick, it will impact the farm’s labour force. In Zambia, it’s estimated HIV/AIDS affects 15 to 20 per cent of those sexually active. Mr. Ntambo said the importance of nutrition and crops for those with HIV/AIDS is something just starting to emerge through IDE.
In the future, Mr. Mwanza would also like to expand his farm operation and purchase the plot of land set aside for him by the village chief when he came of age. To apply for its deed, he has to pay the village’s head man 400,000 and the chief 500,000 kwacha, as well as any administration fees. In February, 3,200 kwacha equalled $1 US. Having the land title would allow Mr. Mwanza to borrow against his farm and use it as collateral to purchase more advanced irrigation systems and move closer to becoming a commercial farmer.
Currently, there are more than 5,000 of the pumps in Zambia, said Mr. Ntambo.
“He’s reached a level where he’s able to move on to a motorized pump,” said Mr. Lungu, translating. “If they brought electricity here, the productivity would be very good; they would be able to make a lot of money,” said Mr. Lungu.
For more information on IDE, visit www.ideorg.org.
