Catholic Relief Services distributes lambs to poor farmers in Afghanistan so they can increase their flocks. CRS gave this family a lamb and provided free veterinary care. Photo by Laura Sheahen/CRS

In the poorest regions of Afghanistan, livestock is like a bank account: if trouble hits, you can sell a sheep, or a goat, or a cow. Not to have an animal is to be exposed, left to the mercy of fate. But families who depend on their livestock too often lose it, or fail to make money from it, because of disease and other problems.
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Dear Friend,

A few years ago, we were looking for ways to help farmers in Tanzania and our staff come up with a project to combine microfinance savings groups with agricultural promotion. With private donations from the Ryan Memorial Foundation, they started the Chickpea Market Promotion project. It had a modest goal of forming 10 groups that would each pool and collectively sell their chickpea harvests as a marketable export crop.

To say the least, the project has exceeded expectations. To this point, 3,800 poor farmers have organized into 149 groups. This helped them to access microfinance support through their involvement in savings groups, as well as assistance in production and marketing of their crops. This resulted in a considerable rise in income for these farm families.
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Farmers in Impasugong, Bukidnon showing bulb onions grown under rainshelter. Photo by Randy Paler/CRS

It’s hard to tell from their humble appearance in American produce aisles, but onions are a finicky crop that requires particular conditions for each growing stage. Young plants need moisture to become sturdy and large, but the final month of growth must take place in much drier soil.

Some areas of the world are naturally suited to wet-followed-by-dry conditions, but in the tropical humidity of the Philippines, onion farmers are continually under threat of too much moisture during the final month before harvest.
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Contrary to earlier reports, the catepillar threatening food and water supplies in Liberia is not the army worm, as reported here (since corrected) and elsewhere last week.

According to this article in the Guardian, the pests remain unidentified.

Here’s the latest update from CRS’ program manager for Haiti, Greg Elder. He’s working with emergency responders and keeping us informed on conditions following massive storm damage in August and September.

A mattress is spread to dry beside a mound of mud removed from the rooms of a Missionary of Charity compound in Gonaives. Photo by David Snyder for CRS.

In the southern departments of Haiti we’ve been doing agricultural activities for a long time. We are now complementing this by using Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) funds to help farmers get back on their feet. We will be starting seed fairs in January, and will supplement this with farming tools and animals.

These seed fairs will be a CRS first in Haiti. We’re training local farmers and seed merchants on how a seed fair works. We’ll then set a date and organize the varieties of seeds being sold and set prices with the vendors in order to ensure they bring the seeds that the farmers need at prices they can afford.

We will provide vouchers to farmers so that they can purchase the seeds they most need. It’s widely accepted as one of the best methods to provide agricultural assistance. You’re not only helping farmers who need seeds, but you’re helping local providers who make their livelihoods from the sale of seeds. We are essentially creating a market chain to build relationships that will help them in the future.

Every little bit helps in achieving our goal of getting Gonaives and Haiti back to normal. We’re helping families leave the shelters and return to their homes, and we’re helping kids return to school. That is the main progress we’ve made so far.

- Greg Elder

Mayling Simpson-Hebert, a CRS regional technical advisor in East Africa, shares her dream of 100 percent sanitation coverage across the globe.

Happy World Toilet Day! Although it may be hard to believe, almost 40 percent of the world’s population has no access to a toilet. Imagine it: More than one out of every three people living on earth relieves themselves in the open.

Arbor loos are inexpensive toilets that first serve sanitation needs then later provide a rich source of nutrients for fruit trees. In Ethiopia, a family has built a basic privacy fence around the concrete toilet slab of this arbor loo. Photo by CRS Staff.

Simple toilets can make a significant health impact. Many families, though, are either unable to afford proposed latrine designs or simply don’t buy into the benefits. But one model, the “arbor loo,” is making headway. Designed by Peter Morgan in Zimbabwe for the African situation, it is affordable for most rural African households.

Key to the arbor loo’s success is how it serves double duty: first as a basic toilet, then as an extremely fertile pit for a fruit tree. The design provides a wealth of benefits:

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Members of a farming co-operative in the Mchinji District of Malawi are now able to irrigate their land with help from a CRS program. Irrigation during the dry winter months allows these farmers to vastly increase the amount and diversity of crops they are able to grow, which allows them to earn money selling their surplus food on the local markets.

CRS works through local partner agencies to implement agricultureand environment programs for the poorest farm families and rural communities worldwide. Given certain climatic conditions, proper irrigation is key to making the projects sustainable.

Photo by David Snyder for CRS

Catholic Relief Services has been providing emergency relief and reconciliation support since the start of the post-election violence in Kenya in early 2008. This past month in partnership with CAFOD (the Caritas agency of England) and two local dioceses, CRS began helping 4,500 families to restart agricultural activities in the Rift Valley.

Families affected by post-election violence in Kenya are receiving about $200 worth of vouchers for agricultural materials to restart farming.. Photo by Debbie DeVoe/CRS

Each family receives about $200 worth of vouchers, funded by the European Union. The families then use the vouchers to purchase seeds, tools, fertilizer and small livestock from approved vendors, who in turn receive cash for the vouchers from CRS’ diocesan partners.

“This project is not only helping thousands of families affected by the post-election violence in Kenya to grow critical food but is also helping communities to reconcile,” explains Massimo Altimari, emergency coordinator for CRS Kenya. “When we first started working with affected communities, tensions were quite high among disputing residents. Now they have come together to help identify beneficiaries and support project activities, helping them to resume normal relationships.”

- Debbie DeVoe, CRS regional information officer, East Africa

Life is gradually returning to normal for people living in tsunami affected areas. A woman farmer in the town of Pulo Aceh, Indonesia weeds what would become the first rice harvest since the 2004 tsunami ravaged the northwest coast of Sumatra, particularly the province of Aceh.

To help farmers restore their crops and livelihoods, CRS provided fertilizers and local “hybrid” seeds, which grow faster than traditional varieties. CRS continues to work with communities in Aceh with reconstruction projects:  building new homes, parks and  water systems and replacing washed-out roads.

Photo by Sean Sprague for CRS

An Ethiopian youngster displays corn grown by members of the Mede Gudine Cooperative. Supported by CRS and our partner, the Hararghe Catholic Secretariat, dozens of farmers now have year-round access to irrigation through a range of pumps, water cisterns and underground water level controls that collectively provide ample water to farmers all year round.

During the current drought, similar CRS supported irrigation projects have helped farmers survive dry periods. Thanks to irrigation projects, farmers grow vegetable crops they can harvest and sell two or three times a year, reducing dependence on rain-fed crops.

Photo by David Snyder for CRS