In refugee settlements, people do amazing things with very little. No matter how limited the resources, simple items are transformed with incredible creativity; plastic bound together becomes soccer balls, while metal bikes are repaired with wooden poles. Innovation is everywhere, and the greenhouses are no exception!
Water is one common problem in Uganda that calls for a creative solution. Without a centralized irrigation system that allows for the crops to be easily watered, it can be difficult for farmers to take care of all their plants equally. In the most basic system, farmers will haul water from the nearest water source — a lake, borehole, or the like – and water their fields by hand.
To solve this problem, some local farmers came up with a creative solution. Instead of individually hauling water, they created small water reservoirs with tarps that could catch rainwater and water funneled from other sources. So, we decided to get all four of the greenhouses tarps that they could use to create their own water reservoirs.
Andrew, a Ugandan staff member for ARC, was excited about this idea. “Water has been a big problem for the success of the greenhouses. Because the farm is so big, it’s easier for them to dig a hole, put the tarp in it, and funnel water from a tank to have it be closer and more accessible when watering plants. This should really help them in the future.”
