Micro Irrigation at Work!

Farmer Field School women's groups in Kambi ya Simba are in the process of establishing large vegetable gardens and fruit orchards with the help of micro-irrigation equipment. Treadle pumps like the MoneyMaker pump and simple drip irrigation schemes can revolutionize production in arid areas dependent on rainfall.

As the women tested the pump, pumping water from a nearby stream, they were amazed at the velocity and reach of the spray.



Operating the MoneyMaker pump is kind of like working out on a stairmaster, and the school boys love it... at least, they do now until the novelty wears off.

Drip irrigation is very simple. A large bucket is placed on a stand, and lines of plastic tubing are laid throughout the garden. Water is applied (or "dripped") on a slow, even basis at root level so very little is wasted through evaporation or run off.

Simple, but very effective considering the time-consuming, tedious alternative of fetching bucket after bucket of water from the nearest water source to water by hand.