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
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment