Loos and luck
I really need the loo. I’ve been at my desk for well over three hours and so far have filled my body with two cups of tea, one cup of coffee and a fair amount of water too. But I have the misfortune of working on the very top floor of Practical Action’s head office, which means that a trip to the loo involves climbing all the way downstairs. And I’m so engrossed in my work (and also a little lazy – it is Friday, after all) that I really can’t be bothered….
I’m currently writing a proposal to fundraise for a hugely exciting new project that Practical Action is embarking on in Zimbabwe. We’re working with rural communities in the southern provinces of Gwanda and Mwenezi, endeavouring to reach out to 200,000 people to improve their access to clean water, ensure they have adequate sanitation and reduce their health risks from poor hygiene. The figure is massive. 200,000 people is over double the size of my home town!
Most of these people currently live several kilometres away from a safe water supply. The task of collecting water usually falls to women and children who will spend whole days carrying up to 80 litres of water. The journey can be dangerous – these women are vulnerable to mugging and rape; and the water they do collect often isn’t fit for human consumption anyway.
Furthermore, many families in Gwanda and Mwenezi don’t have toilets in their own homes as they can’t afford to build them. This means that people usually just relieve themselves outside in the bush. This morning I’ve read stories from women and girls who describe the complete loss of dignity and embarrassment they feel while doing this, especially when they’re menstruating.
Suddenly my reluctance to walk down a flight of stairs to go to the toilet demonstrates not only laziness, but complete ignorance of how fortunate I am. Wherever I am, it only ever takes me a few minutes to fetch a glass of clean water or go to the loo.
I am lucky. But it shouldn’t be about luck. Having clean water and being able to go the toilet without putting your safety or health at risk are basic human rights to which people everywhere are entitled, whether you live in Warwickshire or Gwanda.
Now I really must go – I’m desperate.
2 Comments » | Add your commentDay 2 of my trip to Practical Action’s programme in Bolivia
When I said we were off down hill I hadn’t appreciated that in order to get out of the valley La Paz is in, we first had to drive up to a mountain pass 5,500 m above sea level (18,150 feet). We then dropped down over a couple of hours on a mainly good quality but winding road to reach a small town called Coroico, situated at just 1,600m (5,380 ft) above sea level.
cloud forest
The area here is very different to that which we visited yesterday. Instead of a flat open and treeless horizon we found steep forested mountains intersected with deep valleys and fast flowing rivers. The air was more humid and drifting clouds hung over the valleys, shrouding some of the mountains form view and explaining why this type of environment is known as ‘cloud forest’.
We are about to start a new project looking at agro forestry practices and sustainable farming of, amongst other things, cocoa (the raw ingredient for chocolate) and coffee in this type of forest. We were visiting Coroico for two reasons. Firstly, it was an opportunity for me to see a well established example of agro forestry and understand what we will be trying to do (our project has yet to really start and the site is a further 6 hour drive from Coroico so it didn’t make sense to go there yet). And secondly, Coroico is the site of an agricultural university and Alfonso, Mario (the head of our office in Bolivia) and Miguel (the new project manager for the agro forestry project) wanted to explore the possibility of future collaboration with the university.
Alfonso views a mature field of coca plants in a cleared area of forest
The area around Coroico is interesting. It has been colonised by people from the upland areas we saw yesterday over the years (there doesn’t appear to have been an indigenous population in this particular area prior to the upland people’s arrival). But there is not much evidence of farming for food. Spaces are cleared in the forest to plant mainly coca, which is financially rewarding. Although coca is the source of cocaine and therefore associated with drug trafficking, it can be grown legally in Bolivia, if the fields are registered with the government. The leaves are chewed as a stimulant and it’s also used in a tea. Both are said to be good for helping adjust to or cope with life at high altitude. A coca plant can last up to 60 years and can provide up to 3 harvests of leaves in a year. A small plot we saw, perhaps less than ¼ hectare could produce, according to our guide, an income of around US $750 per year, which explains why it remains a popular crop.
An example of agro forestry - coffee, bananas and oranges grown in between native species
The downside to the way the forest is cleared and farmed here is that there is no attempt to restore organic matter to the soil and, as a result, land becomes less and less productive over time until it has to be abandoned and a fresh piece of forest cleared. The bare soil is then prone to erosion which means that secondary regeneration of the forest once the land is abandoned does not always happen. The ago forestry approach tries to avoid this problem by leaving some tree cover but managing it so that enough light gets to the soil to allow the cultivation of crops in between. The technique can reduce soil erosion and increase soil fertility if managed well. The example we were able to see today included coffee, bananas and orange trees interspersed between native tree species. It had been cultivated by the current owner for more than 13 years in this way, and had recovered land that had previously been cleared to grow coca.
We finished the Coroico visit off with a meeting with the Vice Director of the agricultural university. It seems that the faculty has a research programme on agro forestry and its catchment area extends out to the area where our project will shortly commence. We discuss the possibility of future collaboration, including the possibility of research students tailoring their theses to deal with specific issues in project design or the assessment of impact.
1 Comment » | Add your commentPassing the coffee tasting test
After visiting the coffee farmers it was a trip to the Laboratory to see if their beans got the seal of approval …
Mikel the Coffee taster gives us the thumbs up:
Sara-Jane Brown from our communications team is travelling across Peru and Bolivia to see examples of how Practical Action’s work is making a difference to poor communities. Follow my trip live on Twitter: #sarainperu
No Comments » | Add your commentDeepest, darkest Peru but no Paddington Bear
I have arrived in Moyabamba, a large town in deepest, darkest Peru. Dirt roads, poverty and curious wildlife are just a few things I’d say about it, but no sign of Paddington Bear …
Sara-Jane Brown from our communications team is travelling across Peru and Bolivia to see examples of how Practical Action’s work is making a difference to poor communities. Follow my trip live on Twitter: #sarainperu
No Comments » | Add your commentProbably the best coffee in the world
Coffee grown in the forest is ‘probably’ the best that you can buy. The farmers I met today have been working with Practical Action to make sure their coffee is just that …
Did you know that coffee comes from a tree and the beans are actually red berries?
Normales, one of our successful farmers even has a machine to peel away the berry skins:
Normales has fought his way out of poverty by improving his coffee:
Sara-Jane Brown from our communications team is travelling across Peru and Bolivia to see examples of how Practical Action’s work is making a difference to poor communities. Follow my trip live on Twitter: #sarainperu
No Comments » | Add your comment‘El cafe de San Martin’
I’m no coffee connoisseur (shameful to admit - I’m actually more partial to a warm Ribena!), but over the last few days I’ve developed a new found appreciation for coffee, and the women and men who produce it.
So, fast facts, what have I learnt?
1. Farmers harvest seven crops of coffee each year. It’s only the third harvest onwards which is good enough for the international market (you can tell by the beans - by this point they are all bright red)
2. By growing organic coffee farmers can be sure of a fairer and more reliable price – earning at least a third more than farming regular coffee
3. Climate change is a reality for families here and it’s hitting them hard – right now it’s so dry in the region that the coffee isn’t growing well – the beans are too small to export. That means a 40% drop in income for poor farmers
I doubt I will ever look at a cup of ‘Cafe’ without seeing the faces of Flora, Normel and Leonora or the lush, green landscape of the Amazon.
Helen Marsh
PS. I did learn one other thing – think I could make it as Practical Action’s resident coffee taster?
1 Comment » | Add your commentWorld, meet Normel …
Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Normel Mendoza. I want you to meet him too.
So, here’s Normel. He and his wife Flora are coffee farmers, living in the village of Bajos Progreso, Peru (‘remote’ cannot begin to describe their community and neither can ‘breathtaking beauty’).
They have been growing coffee for over a decade but struggling to earn a real living from it – their coffee was only high enough quality to sell to neighbouring families and at the local market.
Since working with Practical Action, Normel is growing more and better quality coffee. So much so, that he is now a certified ‘organic’ farmer (and that means that he can get an extra 100 Soles – roughly £25) per bag of coffee he produces. His coffee, and that from other farmers in the area is now being sold internationally – at a fair and reliable price.
What does that mean for Normel and his family?
- They are now earning over a third more income
- They now employ up to 15 local people to farm their land
- They have built a bigger better home with storage for their coffee
How’s that for a success story?
Helen Marsh
2 Comments » | Add your commentOn our way to Bajos Progreso
Sara-Jane Brown from our communications team is travelling across Peru to visit Practical Action’s projects helping poor communities escape from poverty. Today she is on her way to see coffee farmers:
1 Comment » | Add your commentTarapoto, the start of the Amazon
Sara-Jane Brown from our communication team in the UK is visiting Practical Action’s projects with poor communities in Peru. Follow the third installment of her blog as she arrives in Tarapoto:
No Comments » | Add your commentMid-morning coffee?
Take a sip.
Ever thought where, when and how your coffee is produced? Well, perhaps it was grown by farmers in Peru – one of the world’s largest exporters of organic coffee.
Today, we are travelling up to Northern Peru, to an area called Tarapoto which sits on the edge of the Amazon basin.
Here, Practical Action is working with local people to help them preserve their forests and profit from them.
Where, in recent years, families have supported themselves through the mass logging of trees (in effect, sacrificing their future to survive in the short-term), now we are enabling local women and men to make a living growing high-quality coffee within the fertile land of the rainforest.
Crucially, they can also make more profit from their hard work – by coming together to sell it for good, fair and high prices.
Now, that tastes much better doesn’t it?
Helen Marsh
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