Storage of and distribution of water is one of the biggest challenges farmers in Annayo face. There are lots of potential solutions that can help them tackle the problem...Watering cans are one of them! They're simple and well-loved tools, but watering cans are a powerful instrument.They can help farmers get access to otherwise hard-to-reach parts of the farm and reduce water waste. Plus, they're just plain handy. And, easier access to water means stronger crops, and stronger crops means greater nutrition. "Even with tools like a water can, the community will be able to reliably harvest nutritious food," said Fauzia Yassin, an ARC teammate who works on nutrition issues. "It will also mean they'll have greater access to, say, a variety of fruits--oranges, mangoes, guavas - or have enough water for their livestock, giving regular access to milk." Who knew that one simple tool could do so much? This change made possible by Mankind is My Business. … [Read more...] about Small but Mighty

Jerricans are quite the multi-tool. They carry and store water, milk, or even gasoline. But sometimes there aren't enough to go around - which can lead to some problems. There's often cross-contamination. Jerricans might be used to transport milk one day and drinking water the next. Farmers in Annayo told us they didn't have enough jerricanss to transport all of the things they wanted to, and so were using them for a number of purposes. To remedy this, we decided to buy all of the farms two jerricans! Now farmers will each have enough containers for their different uses. Not only that, but the new jerricans will help solve their water transportation and storage solutions. It's a win win! This day of change brought to you by Mankind is My Business. … [Read more...] about They Do It All

Access to water is a problem for the farming community of Annayo, and it has been for many years. They told us that things aren't getting better - in fact, in some ways it's getting worse. There are many sides to the issue...so we're working to tackle it from all possible fronts. It might not be an obvious solution, but having access to a tractor is vital to retaining water and getting it to where it needs to be. Why? You can create tracts, allowing the water to follow, irrigating trees and crops alike. You can also build up soil in other places, so that water won't seep as readily into other parts of the farm. The problem is, most farmers don't have access to one. Getting every farmer in Annayo a tractor wasn't in the budget. But, we devised a system - providing a sort of ride-share opportunity for the farmers, giving them access to tractors for a few hours at a time. "The land preparation of soil bands would increase water retention, but I cannot afford the tractor … [Read more...] about Watered Down

When tackling the problem of plastic waste in our world, both conventional and creative ideas are the name of the game. Our staff in Somalia have both kinds in abundance. They're particularly interested in testing out new techniques for plastic waste reduction that would not only help the community in Annayo reduce waste, but also assist in solving for their water problem. By filling up used water bottles, poking a hole in the cap, and flipping the bottles upside down into the dirt, ARC explained to folks in Annayo that they can not only find uses for discarded bottles in the community, but also water crops and trees with less water waste. One elder member of Annayo, Shiine, was very interested in this idea. She's on board to pilot even more projects with tree seedlings, and train others to do the same. This simple solution has legs - and brings new life to old waste. This change brought to you by Mankind is My Business. … [Read more...] about Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Sometimes the best solution isn't the most expensive. Sometimes, it's the simplest - and the cheapest. When we sat down with farmers in Annayo and talked about how to tackle the water problem that so many of them face, ideas abounded. Drip irrigation, metal storage tanks, cement storage tanks, drilling new wells...the list went on. But then a tip from a colleague ended up solving part of the problem in a straightforward way.... We bought the farmers segments of PVC pipe. The farmers can dig a hole and put the pipe in, with just a few inches showing. That way, the farmers can water the roots of those plants directly, which is especially useful for trees with deep and vast root systems. Not only is this solution cheaper, it's also more effective! Getting water straight to the roots allows more water to go where it's supposed to go, reducing water loss through evaporation. An interesting and innovative idea indeed! This change made possible by Mankind is My Business. … [Read more...] about Simple Innovation

Access to water is something that many of us take for granted, but it was by and far the most common challenge we heard when speaking with farmers in Annayo. In such a dry climate, water is incredibly precious. For farmers, it's something they depend on not only for themselves but for their crops, livestock, and livelihoods. Access to water is the difference between planting things year round or not, and sometimes whether or not they can sustain their farms. "I am a mother of ten, six girls and four boys," said Khadija Aan. "We use income generated from the farm to help send the kids to school. I have one well and one pump, but it is not enough to supply the whole farm." Many more farmers than Khadija expressed a need for new pumps for their wells - so we bought them all machines! This will be a game changer for many of the farmers who might now be able to plant in the dry season - and will help increase their production throughout the year. This change made … [Read more...] about An Oasis

Even though we were able to buy all of Annayo's twenty farms a variety of tools, it was clear to us that, well, some farms just needed a few more. One such farm, headed by Mohamed Elmi, was a clear example. Mohamed and his wife live on the farm with their nine children, their spouses, and a total of sixty grandchildren! The number of people living there has grown substantially over the years, but the number of tools has not. "The farm is my only source of income," said Mohamed. "Before, I could manage, but now it is getting so big, I can’t keep up with it! The farm is starting to get older and bigger than even me! The biggest challenge I have? My age! Another big challenge we face is having enough tools for all of the labor we have on the farm." We bought farms like Mohamed’s additional tools - and especially more shovels! Shovels are so versatile and can be used in so many ways - planting new trees, digging irrigation channels, or working on some small-scale … [Read more...] about Can You Dig It?

While some farmers in Annayo told us they had an abundance of labor and shortage of tools, others simply felt they didn’t have enough people to help on the farm - even though there's lots of work to be done. That was especially true on farms that are nourished by rain - they're usually much larger than irrigated farms because they try to do as much as they can during the short rainy seasons. This means that these farmers are busy - it can be tough to work all the land at once. "The main challenge that we face is that we don’t have manpower for the times of the year we most need it, despite all of the work to be done," said farmer Nimo Adan. To help remedy this problem, we gave vouchers to farmers that they could use to rent a tractor! Many of the farmers told us that even a few hours with a tractor would help them maximize their potential for the year. In this case, we got vouchers that could be used specifically for field preparations. This way, when the farmers are … [Read more...] about A Tractor for Your Time

Milk - from a cow, camel or a goat - is beloved in many parts of Somalia. But keeping this milk cold for transportation can be incredibly difficult, especially when refrigerators are few and far between. Many times, milk is stored in old jerrycans or transported in plastic bags, leaving it vulnerable to contamination. That's a risk not only for the person consuming it, but also for the person relying on money made from selling it. When speaking with farmers in Annayo, we found that many of them are drinking milk from their livestock, but one farm is producing enough milk to sell it for consumption in Hargeisa, the closest big city. "During the rainy season, we use extra milk produced by our livestock and sell it to residents of Hargeisa," said Nimo Adan. "We store the liquid in plastic bags or jerrycans." To help the farm better cool the milk they're collecting to sell, we got them a cold storage container! Luckily for us, we even found a machine that can both cool … [Read more...] about Got Milk?

Bugs are a nuisance. For most of us, they're just undesirable creepy crawlers. But for farmers in Annayo, pests can mean the difference between a bountiful harvest or a difficult one. The farmers told us how pests, especially insects, are affecting their yields, and how this problem has recently worsened due to changes to the climate. Not only do higher global temperatures mean that an increased number of pests are able to survive the winter or cold seasons, but changes in temperature are affecting the nutrition levels in leaves, forcing insects to eat more to get the same amount of nutrients. Pest management in Somalia has gotten much more difficult. One of the farmers, Ibrahim, spoke to us about his personal experiences with pest management problems in Annayo. "With climate change, pests - especially insects - have become much worse than in the past." To help farmers tackle this problem, we purchased a large pesticide spray bottle for every farm in … [Read more...] about Pest-y Business