When setting up a healthy water and irrigation system, there are so many variables to get right. After you’ve controlled for storage, water quality, salinity, pressure and more, distribution is the next challenge! At the Juru Greenhouse in Nakivale, water distribution is potentially the biggest problem. Lake Nakivale is just down the hill from our fields of cabbage, onions, eggplants and tomatoes, but lugging water up the hill and to the far ends of the fields is taxing. We’ve been able to solve the problem of getting the water up the hill to storage, but the farmers still face problems related to reaching their crops. To solve this, we bought small flexible pipes that the farmers can use to funnel water anywhere they like. Then, using the tarps from day 29, the farmers can dig small reservoirs and fill them with water, making their jobs much easier and their work more efficient. As we learned before, the greenhouse community estimates they lost approximately 6,000 USD … [Read more...] about Sometimes Pipe Dreams Do Come True

Many of us probably take water towers for granted – they seem ordinary, just a place to hold drinking water plus maybe a town name or logo. But there’s a lot more going on under the surface. Though we might not think of them much, water towers provide the major benefit of water pressure, which helps keep everything flowing smooth and strong. We wanted to see if we could bring some water pressure to our new tank at the Juru Greenhouse in Nakivale. We decided to build a stand for the tank and pipeline. The stand is more than just a new perch for the water tank. The stand’s slight elevation creates gravity, which adds pressure that the farmers can use to reach out to the farthest corners of the farm! Elizabeth, one of the women working at the greenhouse, shared with us the larger impact the water tank and tower will have: “It has been really hard to get water, but now with the irrigation system, it will be easy to irrigate our crops.” Making it easier to water and grow means … [Read more...] about Under Pressure

When water is scarce, there’s nothing worse than watching it go to waste. But without a reliable water storage system, the Juru Greenhouse in Nakivale can’t save up water. This makes it difficult to water all their crops, especially in drier seasons. Consistent water access and storage are common problems in Ugandan refugee settlements; even when farmers are able to get water from the lake or rainfall, there’s no secure way to store it up. To help remedy this problem, we bought a 10,000-liter water tank for the Juru Greenhouse. The team in Juru estimates they lost approximately 6,000 USD worth of crops last year. A huge part of this loss had to do with thirsty plants. The standard method of watering, which involved carrying water up the hill from Lake Nakivale each day, simply couldn’t reach enough of the crops. While we worked on an easier and faster way to get water up the hill yesterday, a water tank will add stability and security. Prince, the chairperson for the … [Read more...] about When It Rains, It Pours

There’s nothing easy about lugging a container of water up a hill from a river or lake. And for the farmers at the Juru Greenhouse in Nakivale, this is a daily task that can feel never ending. The greenhouse workers in Uganda carry water from Lake Nakivale to their crops for irrigation. They're hard workers, but with all that time spent going up and down the hill, they’re only able to reach a limited number of plants. The group already had a pump to get water out of the lake, but the only way to get it up the hill was by foot. So, we decided to buy a pipe for them and dig out a pipeline! The group was so excited about the time and energy they’ll save with this new pipeline. They started organizing and planning how to use the new technology right away. One of the women told us, “we’ve become so tired of carrying the water up the hill, day after day. This will make such a big difference to our little group.” … [Read more...] about Pump It Up

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 … [Read more...] about It’s a Tarp!

To run a successful business or cooperative, it’s important to keep your finances are in order, especially when you’re working and sharing with others. Many of our changemaking efforts — including the greenhouses — involve combined finances, where a group of people works together and pools their earnings. However, sometimes these groups don’t have a safe place to store their money or financial documents. To encourage better bookkeeping and meet a security need, we decided to buy each of the four greenhouses their own safety deposit box. These boxes provide each of the groups a set place to store their combined earned money and accounting documents. Prince, the chairperson of the Juru greenhouse, had positive feelings about the finances of the group and welcomed the additional support. “This area did not previously have a market," he explained. "But because of this project, our community has been able to open a small market. So far, the money we have gotten from here, we’ve … [Read more...] about Savings, Savings, Savings

One of the hardest challenges for farmers to tackle is preventing pests and fungi from growing in their fields. Although tiny in size, these critters can have a huge impact on the security of a person’s food and livelihood. Lucky for us, a combination of methods can be used to prevent the spread of pests and fungi. And while the farmers will often use creative methods to deal with these issues, sometimes fungicides and pesticides are necessary to save their crops. Therefore, and in order to complement their new seeds and fertilizers, we provided all four of the greenhouses with pesticides and fungicides to use when other methods aren't quite cutting it. These small solutions will make a big difference. Last year, the greenhouse in Juru estimates that they lost approximately 6,000 USD worth of crop from drought, insects and animals. Carol assists with ARC programming in Nakivale and Oruchinga and could really imagine the difference this would make. “Last year, the … [Read more...] about Putting the Fun in Fungicide

As any backyard gardener or long-time farmer knows, we can plant as many seeds as we like, but they won’t grow without proper nutrients, water, and sunlight. Places like Nakivale and Oruchinga have sunlight down – crops grow there all year long — but this continued use means the soil takes quite a beating, nutrient wise. To solve this problem, we got all four greenhouses foliar fertilizers to accompany their new fruit and vegetable seeds! Foliar fertilizer is liquid, and it’s applied directly to the leaves. The plants absorb these essential nutrients directly through their leaves to grow bigger, stronger, and to produce larger yields. The farmers at our greenhouses were excited to receive the fertilizer. With limited access to manure and almost no access to other fertilizers, the foliar fertilizers will supplement what they would use and help them grow more to eat. Monica, a long-term member at the Juru Greenhouse, has already felt the effects of this community and is … [Read more...] about Feeding the Leaves

Uganda’s climate is perfect for growing ripe, tropical fruits — mangoes, jackfruit, oranges, passion fruit, pineapple, and so much more. But at the greenhouses we’ve been working in, the bounty is usually limited to vegetables. Vegetables provide many essential nutrients, but the farmers and their families lack regular access to nourishing, delicious fruits. Yesterday, we were able to provide dozens of farmers with the vegetable seeds they needed and wanted. But today, we focused on fruit! The greenhouses had a limited selection of fruits—a handful of papaya trees and a large guava tree were planted recently, but not everyone has access to these trees. We supplemented these trees with fruit seeds for all four greenhouses, so that everyone can enjoy a sweet and healthy treat. Many folks at the greenhouses were especially excited about planting watermelon and passion fruit; both remind them of being at home in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where these fruits thrive. And … [Read more...] about Passionate about Passion Fruit

No matter how dedicated a person is to a farm or garden, it’s impossible to plant anything without seeds. And in places as remote as Nakivale or Oruchinga, it can be tricky to buy seeds – especially if you’re hoping for a wide variety of options. So, while visiting our four greenhouses in Uganda, we made sure to ask the farmers not only what seeds they most needed, but what they especially missed from home, too. Many of the workers are refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which means they typically make do with the food available in the settlements. When we asked them what food they missed from their lives back in Congo, faces lit up as spoke of beets, carrots, yams, garlic, ginger and cauliflower. The groups had already been busy growing tomatoes, eggplant, onions, bell peppers, corn, and sorghum, but they missed familiar foods. We decided to source a huge assortment of seeds — we found all the plants they were already growing plus seeds of the plants they so … [Read more...] about Planting Seeds of Change