DEVELOPING TIMES: INCREASE WORLD FOOD PRODUCTION

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Mission Statement
Rural Empowerment Initiatives (REI) mission is to collaborate in the reduction of poverty through investment in rural areas and training of local people.

Vision Statement
REI's vision is to treat every created being with dignity, respect and love. We strive to work with those most in need by empowering people to recognize their God given talents, enabling them to make the world a better place and providing them hope for the future.

Our Principles
REI believes that all people are created equal.
REI will develop small to medium businesses (SMEs) as one approach to reach those most in need by creating jobs that build the economy in rural areas.
REI's partner businesses will be led, managed and majority owned by local people.
REI will always seek a triple bottom line of economic, spiritual and social transformation.
REI seeks to build sustainable community-oriented business models.
REI's focus of support is to the economically disadvantaged.
REI will seek attractive market and growth opportunities.
REI will incubate pilot projects with capable management.
REI believes in collaboration. We seek partners whose strengths complement our own in an effort to build well-rounded projects of lasting economic value for the communities in which we work.
REI is inspired by the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, and is therefore rooted in the Christian faith.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

INCREASE WORLD FOOD PRODUCTION

NCREASE WORLD FOOD PRODUCTION
with Low-cost irrigation technology for small farmers

The green revolution has tripled world grain production using fertilizers and irrigation but has now come to limits like availability of water, salinity, unsustainable mechanization, energy consumption, etc. 1 Billion people still experience hunger and the world population is growing, so new approaches and technologies are needed.

Barriers for small farmers
Some 75% of the farmers in developing countries have less than 5 Hectares of land and a yearly income of US$ 300 to US$ 800. A single disastrous crop failure can turn them into landless laborers or send them into the urban ghetto. They have no access to technology like tractors or harvesters. Irrigation pumps to pump from rivers or shallow wells cost US$ 300 or more. Motorized pump options for wells deeper than 8 m. costs US$ 800 or more. Small farmers normally cannot afford these technologies, and subsidies on wells and irrigation schemes often have not worked, or only reached bigger farmers. In general technology designers do not see small farmers as customers.

Low cost irrigation from shallow wells
However , the potential of small farmers to increase production by irrigation is enormous and using the right varieties and technologies, food production worldwide could be tripled, but as Paul Polak of IDE states:
"The most important barrier is lack of affordable irrigation technology".
Modern irrigation technology has been developed for the middle and high income farmers that have enough land. However there are promising developments for farmers with a few acres. For instance in Bangladesh a hand sludged well and a "Treadle pump", (pedal powered) cost US$ 20. With low cost of labor and rising cost of fuel, irrigating with this Treadle pump is much cheaper than with a motor pump. The organization IDE informs that more than one million farmers already irrigate rice or dry season vegetables with Treadle pumps and so earn an additional income of US$ 100 annum year, adding a total of US$ 100 million to the national income of Bangladesh.

Low cost irrigation from deep wells
The Treadle pump works in areas with water levels less than 8 meters below ground level but for deeper wells, a different pump technology is needed. For wells down to 70 m. the Rope pump is now considered a good option. Similar to the Treadle pump the Rope pump has low production costs and is easy to install and maintain. Because its high pumping capacity (40 l/min. for a 10 m. well) the use of the hand Rope pump for small scale irrigation is increasing. For larger scale irrigation, Rope pump models "powered by" wind, horse, pedals or motors have capacities of 60 to 180 liters per minute. From wells of 10 to 40 meters deep, 2 to 0.5 Ha. can be irrigated with furrow irrigation. If the newer low-pressure drip irrigation technology is used irrigated areas could be doubled.