Almost everyone in the valley plants crops like maize, sorghum, millet, sunflowers and peanuts. They normally start plowing the land in November and early December using hand plows pulled by bulls or donkeys. Work begins early in the morning as the children help before going to school.
Planting in mid-December coincides with the typical rains that offer the much-needed sustenance for the crops to grow. For the rest of the rainy season, the family will tend their crops daily by going out in the fields to work the rows with hoes and cull out all of the weeds trying to steal the vital water from their crops.
June is normally considered the main harvest month, and the schools close to allow the children to help with the harvest and attend to smaller siblings while parents work sun up to sun down in the fields. Then comes the decision that will affect the family for the rest of their year: How much to store for personal use? This is often decided by how much can they keep safe from rodents and mold. Unfortunately the portion they don't store for personal use will be sold at the same time everyone else is selling their harvest and prices will be very low.
Throughout July, August and September, the family enjoys the food set aside. As the stored goods run low the family will purchase food, often from the same people that purchased their earlier harvest. Unfortunately, economics are unfavorable again as more people are buying and the price has escalated. The cycle concludes with the family trying to save money for the next crop season seeds.
As all farmers understand, cycles don't always go as planned. This year the rains in the Valley didn't come in abundance and the majority of seeds died in the blistering dry sun. There will be minimal crops to store and sell and little to no money for food and other expenses. Next year's crop will be smaller and their children will likely miss school and become weak due to hunger. Even those who have managed to save money will feel the crunch before June rolls around. They will have been hungry now for months and faced with the prospect of a whole year before another potential harvest.
One of our core programs is rainwater harvesting - storing rainwater in large vats to grow food year round. We are currently growing about half of an acre of corn on our site with harvested water.
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