Ending Extreme Poverty in the Congo

Drip Irrigation Is Needed

When it is dry, we water our gardens and yards.  In places like the Congo and other African countries, they do not grow garden during the dry season.

Girls are too busy getting water for cooking and drinking.  They do not have enough time to get water for agricultural needs.  So people are malnourished and malnutrition is rampant.  The weak, children and older people, become vulnerable many diseases and die.

Drip Irrigation could save thousands of lives each year.

via www.sustainableenergyforall.org

For the first time, farmers in the rural villages of Bessassi and Dunkassa in Benin are able to grow fruits and vegetables all year round. With help from the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF), a non-profit, solar drip irrigation has made it possible.

Prior to the introduction of the new innovative solar technology, during the dry season the land was so parched that little could grow on its arid soils, leading to widespread malnutrition in the community. This all changed with the introduction of a community solar-powered drip irrigation system, which pumps water for food crops when rainfall is scarce.

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Fresh fruits and vegetables are a key ingredient of a nutritious meal.  That's what we know here in the developed world.

But in the developing world, like Congo, only fresh fruits and vegetables are available.  So there are other factors that cause the people to be malnourished.  The quantity of food is at fault.

First, not enough of fresh fruits and vegetables are grown during some periods of the year.  Also, lack of transportation limits the available of fresh fruits and vegetables to near the farm.  Finally, the lack of electricity and refrigeration limits the shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables.