2015-08-04

Mokwakwaila community workshop, June 4, 2015

Below is a summary of the discussions and outcomes from the workshop. We appreciate the participation of all those that were present, both farmers and LDA staff!

All the farmers said that it was helpful to get the seasonal forecast information last year in Sept-Oct 2014. Many still ploughed even though the forecast said a dry year. They wanted to try their luck and hope for the best. With the information though they could better prepare for example by collecting maize stocks to feed their animals and some sold or culled unproductive animals. Some used drums to collect rainwater for irrigation of their gardens. However the rain events were few and the little they saved had to used for drinking water not irrigation. Some farmers used kraal manure to improve water holding capacity of the soil in their vegetable gardens. This was not specifically done because it was dry but rather it is for a long-term improvement of the soil. Some said that by the signs in nature they already knew early that it would be a dry year. They however also like to get the seasonal forecast information to confirm this information.

Activities performed during 2014-2015
14/33 planted drought resistant seeds
6/9 reduced herd
0/24 bought fodder (because of a communication problem about the subsidized fodder)
0/9 stored water for watering livestock
20/24 stored water for household use or vegetable gardens
26/33 mulched
2/9 have changed to indigenous cattle
29/33 ploughed early
9 /9 prepared for disease outbreaks in cattle
0/0 prepared for disease outbreaks in their crops

Timeline 2014-2015
Aug/Sept: We started worrying about the livestock. We had medicine already, we bought in June.
Oct: Some sold their animals. The body condition was already poor. The price was low. Some planted cowpeas. Some ploughed and planted maize.
Nov: We experienced the first rain and many ploughed. The grazing improved a little bit after some rain. But later in the month it was dry again.
Dec: Some planted groundnuts. Sometimes there was a shortage of drinking water. There were problems of wilting plants in the gardens because of dry periods. Most could not harvest anything.
Jan: Many realized it would be an exceptionally dry year. Those with livestock had no extra fodder. We took our cattle to faraway places, which was a strain for the cattle to walk up to 5 kms. Those with home gardens did not harvest fled crops (cowpea, maize, pumpkin) for seed to be used the following season and did not dry crop leaves for winter relish due to dry spells.
Feb-March: Many gave up hope that there would be any harvest. Most cattle died of lumpy skin disease. They died before we vaccinated them. Because we knew it was going to be dry, we did not vaccinate and the animals died. The small tributary close the community that they use for watering their livestock dried completely. Some that saved maize from last year’s good harvest had used up their reserve by February while some still had left in June. Some could not preserve enough through drying because there was not enough sun.
February-May
Some farmers planted spinach and mustard but did not harvest due to limited access of irrigation water. Most crops failed. Farmers got 0 to 25 kgs of maize after harvesting.

The activities that farmers pointed out as giving most benefit according to the effort required in terms of time and money were: using drought-tolerant seeds and ploughing with tractors. There can though be much stress waiting in queue for the tractors to be available. Water harvesting and mulching are both a lot of work.


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